WALTHAM, MA. (January 18, 2025) – The Beacons' men's track and field team traveled to Brandies University for the Reggie Payou Memorial Invitational on Saturday, where sophomore Neville Richards (Wellington, Fla.) scored eight of the Beacons' 18 points with a new personal best to take second in the men's weight throw to headline multiple constructive performances in the second meeting of the indoor season.

Coach's Corner:
In reaction to the men's performances, Beacons' head coach, Ozzie Brown, stated, "It was a great rust-buster meet for the men. There are lots of good things happening. Our guys continue to compete hard. Nev [Richards] had a breakout meet with two PRs and a second-place finish in weight. Justin Riley is running well and almost broke the 300m school record. We like what we see in our first meet back as a team since the season opener."

• Richards' breakout saw him register a second-place 14.05m heave in the men's weight throw, and an 11.42m mark in the men's shot put for two new career-bests. Richards and the Beacons' throwing unit each brought home new career benchmarks, with senior Arthur Grant (Sam) (Walpole, Mass.) and junior Olutemi Alofe also setting new personal bests. Grant threw 10.75m in the weight throw and 11.34m in the men's shot put, and Alofe dropped a team-best 11.59m in the shot put for a new personal best.
• Sophomore Justin Riley (Weymouth, Mass.) came within one second of breaking a 12-year-old school record. In the men's 300m dash, he finished ninth overall with a 37.62 to lead three other UMass Boston competitors with a 37.62-second finish, just 0.77s off Henry Morales' record (36.85s) set in 2012.
• The men's 4x200m relay team of Derrick Touba (Yonkers, N.Y.), captain Melvin Wiltshire (Boston, Mass.), Hugo Dos Santos (Cambridge, Mass.), and Riley took third overall at the meet with a season-best 1:34.58s mark. The Beacons' relay unit finished just 0.25 seconds behind the second-place team, Colby College, who finished in 1:34.33s.
• The men's 4x400m relay team consisting of Alex Martins (Malden, Mass.), Elaijah Monterio (New Bedford, Mass.), Daniel Thomas (Milton, Mass.) and Isaiah Stressman scored three points with a 3:52.00 finish.
• Touba picked up a point in the men's 60m finals with an eighth overall finish in 7.17s. First year Martins and Thomas registered new personal bests, with Martins running 7.53, followed by Thomas with 7.57s.
• Monterio, as the sole UMass Boston 500m runner, took 14^th out of 29 runners in the event with a 1:11.78s mark.

Following their positive showing at the Reggie Payou Invitational, the Beacons will carry the momentum into next week's competition when they travel to Springfield, MA, for the Springfield College Massasoit Classic on Saturday, January 25.