Jimmy Cannon races at a previous track meet. Photo provided by Beacon Athletics.

It is officially April and that means the UMass Boston track team has headed outdoors. The Beacons finished their indoor track season, and they look to continue their season under the sun and show everybody their performance from the winter carried over into spring.

The Beacons attended their first meet at Tufts University Saturday, April 1. The Beacons’ showing was headlined by the Cannon brothers, graduate student Jimmy Cannon and freshman Rob Cannon. The duo participated in the 10,000-meter run and performed very well. Jimmy finished in third place with a time of 32:21.18, and Rob didn’t finish too far behind, landing seventh place with a time of 34:35.48 (2).

Zeph Alvarado also participated in the 10,000-meter run. Alvarado snagged 12th place with a time of 40:11.43. This was terrific progress for Alvarado, as this was his new personal best time. Melvin Wiltshire had an outstanding performance in the 200-meter run as well. The freshman ran a time of 24.32 seconds, which was good enough for 12th place out of 53 participants (3).

The Beacons ended up placing 13th overall out of the 19 schools, totaling eight points. Although the placement may not be ideal, there were still many bright spots that came from the teams’ performance (2). The Beacons’ second meet of the outdoor season took place at Regis College, where they showed off some of their strong abilities (1).

Once again, the stars of the day were the Cannon brothers. Jimmy had himself quite a day, finishing fifth in the 400-meter run with a time of 55.77 seconds, and coming out on top in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:04.58. Jimmy has the honor of being the first Beacon to capture first place in a race during the outdoor season (4).

His brother Rob also put on quite a performance during the 1,500-meter run. He placed second in the race with a time of 4:25.80, a truly impressive showing. Wiltshire had himself a day as well, as he showed out in two different events. He placed fifth in the 100-meter run with a time of 11.73 seconds, and fourth in the 200-meter run with a time of 23.76 (4).

The Beacons also had two top-five representatives in the 400-meter hurdles. Frank Boua and Austin Hennebury placed third and fourth in the race; Boua put up a time of 1:04.66 and Hennebury clocked in at 1:17.84. Despite placing sixth place out of eight teams participating, the Beacons showed a ton of promise during this meet, especially from the freshmen.

This will not be the last time the Beacons will visit Regis College for a meet, as they will make a return April 22 (1). The Beacons seem to be on an upward trend at the moment, and if they continue to improve and perform at high levels, they could become even better than the team that ran during the indoor season.

Regardless of how the rest of the season goes, the collection of freshmen the Beacons have are truly talented. Rob Cannon seems like he will pick up right after his brother, while Wiltshire is an elite sprinter with blazing speed and both Boua and Hennebury have shown to be promising hurdlers.

The future is bright with the Beacons, and it seems that future may be arriving soon. This young group of runners have shown they can hang with the best of them, and they will only get better from here on out. With only a few meets remaining before the Little East Conference Championship, the Beacons should be raising eyebrows all around Massachusetts (1).

Sources:

1.https://beaconsathletics.com/sports/mens-track-and-field/schedule

2.https://beaconsathletics.com/news/2023/4/1/mens-track-and-field-mens-outdoor-track-and-field-begins-spring-season-at-tufts-snowflake-classic.aspx

3.https://tfrrs.org/results/78430/m/Tufts_Snowflake_Classic#4765682

4.https://beaconsathletics.com/news/2023/4/6/mens-track-and-field-notches-numerous-top-5-finishes-at-regis-spring-classic.aspx