The Hopkins men’s track team was in action this past Saturday at the Goucher Invitational in Towson, Md. The men’s team won the competition with a total of 283 points.
Hopkins scored particularly well in the 400 meter dash and had four Jays placing in the top 10. Freshman Zach Shelley was the overall top finisher with a time of 51.65. Freshman Florian Pontani ended the dash in fourth place, and sophomore Ray Isales and senior Justin Grant rounded out the Hopkins racers in seventh and eighth place, respectively.
“It was very nice to win a race, particularly since I’m only a freshman,” Shelley said. “Two of the faster 400 runners on the team, Jesse Poore and Dan Camous, didn’t run the race, so I look forward to having them out there in future races.”
Hopkins performed equally well in the 800 meter run, where racers placed in each of the top six places. Freshman Jay Brandon Fielder finished first in the race with a time of 2.01.66, followed by freshman John McMullen in second with a time of 2.02.72. Sophomore Arvind Arikatla finished third overall at 2.03.78, and freshman Leo Potters finished in fourth place with a time of 2.03.74.
Shelley was open about the impact his older teammates, who placed well in the invitational, had on him as a freshman.
“They’ve really helped to push me and make corrections that have made a big difference so far,” Shelley said. “They’ve been awesome in bringing the team together as a whole.”
Senior Chanon Tuntivate and freshman Charles Thornton rounded out with fifth and sixth place, respectively, in the 800-meter.
Hopkins also had the top eight finishers in the 1500-meter run, lead by senior Andrew Ceruzzi, who finished first at 4.09.25.
Ceruzzi was followed by freshman Panth Patel and senior Ian Wilkes, who finished second and third, respectively, with times of 4.13.75 and 4.13.04.
Senior Daniel Bier, junior Doran Walsten, sophomore Stephan Arnold, freshman Louis Levine and junior Trevor Holmgren rounded out the top eight finishes in that order.
Senior Chris Corbett, running in his first-ever 3000-meter race, finished first with a time of 9.35.03.
Corbett was the only Hopkins runner to participate in the 3000-meter and got top marks on his inaugural attempt.
Buoying the strong Jay start were participants in the 110-meter hurdles, especially freshman Matt Fishchetti, finishing with the top time of 15.78. Sophomore Bradley Viles finished fourth at 20.64.
In the 400-meter hurdles, freshman Florian Potani took the top mark with 1.00.16, with Shelley finishing behind him in second at 1.01.66.
In the field events, Hopkins again outperformed the competition, taking many top honors.
Junior Ryan Walsh and sophomore Andrew Barnett took home first and second place in the high jump, with 1.88 meters and 1.78 meters, respectively.
Barnett, freshmen Alex Kossak and senior Patrick Civetta took the top three places in the pole vault, with 4.10 meters, 3.95 meters and 3.35 meters, respectively.
Senior Michael Spadaro took the top place for the long jump with 6.41 meters.
Spadaro also won first place in the triple jump, with a leap of 13.45 meters.
Freshman Zach Jacobson won the discus throw with 39.32 meters, and sophomore Tom Boucher won the Javelin throw with 53.78 meters.
Hopkins ended the invitational with 283 points, followed by CCYN in second with 233 points and Stevenson in third with 79 points.
“It was nice to go in and take care of business since it’s early in the season,” Shelley said. “This gives us a good starting point going into the rest of the season.”
The men’s track team will return to action this Saturday in Baltimore at the Hopkins/Loyola Invitational, which promises stiff competition.
Since home meets only occur once a season, the athletes value a strong crowd and feed off of it to improve their performances.
“It feels good to know that people came out to support you and [it] gives you an added incentive to perform well,” Arnold said.
