The Hopkins men’s track and field team saw yet another weekend of Conference-leading performances and personal bests. The Blue Jays arrived in Collegeville, Pa. this past Sunday to compete in the Frank Colden Invitational hosted by Ursinus College.
The men had an impressive showing at the Frank Colden Invitational, highlighted by senior Mitchell Keller’s season best throw in the shot put. Keller took second place in the event, throwing just short of his career-best mark of 14.05 meters. Additionally, his performance earned him Centennial Conference Men’s Field Athlete of the Week honors.
On the track, the men dominated their competition in the mile run, taking the top three spots in the event. Crossing the line in 4:26, sophomore Alex Condotti earned the individual title.
On his heels were freshman teammates Vipul Bhat and Andrew King, who crossed the line in 4:28 and 4:29, respectively.
Missing from the action in Collegeville was the men’s distance medley relay (DMR) team, who traveled to Winston-Salem, N.C. to compete in the Camel City Invitational on Saturday.
At 11:25 a.m., sophomore Scott Pourshalchi started for the first leg of the 4,000-meter DMR. Pourshalchi finished his 1200-meter leg of the race in 3:05, handing off the baton in third to senior Jesse Poore.
Poore took over for the second and quickest leg of the race. Running the 400-meter, the longest of the sprint events, Poore finished his leg of the race in a quick 49.85 seconds, to move the Jays into second place.
Next was the 800-meter leg of the race, where freshman Brett Wolfinger took over for the Jays. Finishing the half mile in 1:55, Wolfinger held onto third for the Jays as he handed the baton off to teammate senior Tom Pavarini for the final leg of the race.
The anchor leg, which many consider to be the toughest leg of the race, is also the longest. A lot can happen in a 1600-meter race, as runners know all too well.
Pavarini was in a tough but perfect position. The front runners during the 800-meter leg — Campbell University, Christopher Newport University and Hopkins — were separated by less than a second when they handed the baton to their anchors.
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, in fourth place, was only three seconds behind them.
Host team, Campbell University, took first with their quick 4:10 anchor leg from sophomore Kelvin Kirui. Meanwhile, Christopher Newport held onto second just two seconds behind the leader.
When Pavarini crossed the line, splitting 4:17 for his mile leg, the Blue Jays finished in a strong fifth place. Unfortunately, the Jays could not hold onto a top three spot, as both North Carolina and Mount Olive managed to pass the Jays during the final leg of the race.
Still, Hopkins, clocking a time of 10:07, proved that they have the potential to be a national contender come championship season.
“We are hoping to qualify for nationals, but we need to be closer to 10:00,” Pourshalchi said. “This was the first time the four of us ran the DMR together, so we really focused on our handoffs.”
Despite running seven seconds slower than their target goal this past weekend, the Blue Jays’ time ranks third best among D-III this year. Not to mention, their performance topped the previous Centennial Conference leader, McDaniel College, by over 30 seconds.
“Each leg is so important and we all need to be at our best,” Pourshalchi said.
With NCAA Championships a little over a month away, the Jays will be looking to perfect their already impressive performance.
This weekend the Blue Jays will be travelling both near and far to compete. The team will split up, with some to compete in nearby Annapolis, Md. for the Navy Multi-Sweetheart Invite on Feb. 9.
Meanwhile, the rest of the team will travel to Boston, Mass. for the Boston University Valentine Invitational taking place on Feb. 10 and 11.
