BOSTON, MA (January 27, 2024) – The UMass Boston men's indoor track team traveled to Middletown, CT as they continued to upward progress this season at the Wesleyan Indoor Invitational on Saturday. The mid-distance team showed outstanding performances by Robert Cannon in the 3000m run, and Cody Witthun who gave the Beacs a top-three finish in the 800m run. UMass Boston had representatives at every level of events this weekend, as they put together performances in the short sprints, mid-distance, and long-distance events, as well as a 4x400 meter relay squad. The Beacs also had representation in the field events in the high jump, long jump, shot put, and weight throw.

SPRINTS

In the 60m dash, sophomore Melvin Wiltshire and first-year Brady Poirier represented UMass with Wiltshire finishing first for the Beacons in 7.73 seconds. In the 200m dash, first-year Elmani Debarros led all Beacons with a new personal best of 25.73, good for 17 out of 33 competitors. First-year Hugo Dos Santos, along with Wiltshire represented the Beacons in the 400m dash, with Wiltshire following up his 60m performance with a 12-place finish overall, finishing in 56.18, followed by Dos Santos, who clocked a 58.19 finish, good for 16^th overall. First-years Nouradine Sheck and Samuel Darius also laced up for the 400m, with Sheck finishing third for the Beacons with a 63.16-second finish, followed by Darius with a 64.28-second finish.

MID-DISTANCE

Witthun had the best finish of the day overall for UMass Boston, as his season record of 2:04.28 was enough to earn him third place overall in the 800m dash. First-year Sebastian Bien-Amie also laced up for the 800, as he recorded a 3:06.08 finish. Sophomore Isaiah Stressman lined up for the 1000m run, as he clocked a season-high of 3:03.08. For the 3000m run, first-year Robert Cannon earned himself a sixth-place finish in 9:57.24, out of the 21-man field.
The Beacons also stitched together a 4x400m relay consisting of Stressman, Witthun, Wiltshire, and Dos Santos. The Beacs placed sixth out of 10 competitors with a finishing time of 3:54.00, the Beacs' first 4x400m relay mark this year.

JUMPS

Into to high jump, the Beacs' sophomore Noah Arigoni held it down for UMass, clearing 1.61m for his best clearance of the day on his first attempt. For the horizontal jumps at the long jump runway, first-years Prabhdeep Bassan and Debarros represented UMass, with Bassan leading the way for UMass with a 5.17m (16' 11.25")

THROWS

Junior Olutemi Alofe led the way for the Beacs from the thrower's circle, as his 10.28m (33' 8.75") mark in the shotput led the way for the Beacons with a 19^th overall finish in the shot put out of the 31 man field. Alofe also set a new personal record in the weight throw with a toss of 7.54m (24' 9"). First-year Dawin Preval also tagged in with Alofe in the thrower's circle, adding a best of 7.24m (23' 9") in the weight throw, and an 8.55m (28' 0.75") best in the shot put, both of which were good for personal records to close out the day for the Beacons.

The Beacs take back Boston on Saturday, February 10^th from Boston University as they take on the Boston University Valentine's Meet in their next call to action. Results can be found at UMass Boston - Official Athletics Website (beaconsathletics.com).