UMass Boston men’s and women’s track and field have been giving their opponents the runaround as of late. With wind in their sails, the Beacons passed by their fellow competitors with flying colors, and the team in blue and white lifted themselves atop the leaderboards in their winter meetings. Their reign of terror continued during the Wesleyan Indoor Invite Saturday, Jan. 27, with the Beacons’ forerunners for Little East Conference glory making their mark and keeping their upward momentum going in the slate of races and events taking place.
Women’s track kept themselves on pace with multiple runners reaching paydirt with first place finishes, while others accumulated ranks in the top 10, including seven different top-five finishers, according to Beacons Athletics. [1] Dorinda Okorji opened the floodgates for UMass Boston early on, securing another first-place victory in the 60-meter preliminaries and finals. Hialeah Foster also put her best foot forward in the races, coming in seventh both times. Okorji’s spectacular showing was rewarded with yet another LEC track athlete of the week award; it’s the second time she’s been honored for her efforts this season, Beacons Athletics reported. [2]
Ariyanna Garceau was sharp in the 200-meter dash, slotting herself into fourth place, while her biggest accomplishment of the day was when she hurdled her fellow competitors in the 60m hurdles, winning the prelims and finals. Delaney Sartwell and Abigail Schell made some noise in the prelims, jumping into 18th and 21st place for the Beacons. Ella Valdez was the sole runner in the 1000-meter run, knotting 12th place, and to finish off distance running, Grace Colon called her shot with a win in the 3,000-meter; Sarah Campbell followed suit with an impressive fourth place finish, the stats courtesy of Track and Field Results Reporting System. [3]
To finish off the track events, Jacqueline Earner teamed up with Colon, Campbell and Harleen Bassan in the 4x400m relay, finishing in eighth place. In the field, Foster fostered up a top-three finish for UMass Boston, coming in third in the High Jump. Okorji followed in Foster’s footsteps with a third place finish of her own in the Long Jump. In Shot Put, Cayla Jean-Louis and Kelsey Duong made a mark, taking 20th and 27th place, while Schell and Jean-Louis held double duties in the Weight Throw, ending the day with 19th and 24th place finishes, respectively. [3]
After women’s track and field trekked towards the end of their heyday, it left room for men’s track and field to make a splash of their own. The Beacons walked away from the invitational with consistent finishes across the board, including a few athletes who ran away with top 10 placements. Melvin Wiltshire and Brady Poirier got things started for the team, grabbing 16th and 31st place in the 60m prelims. Shortly after, Elmani Debarros and Mocktar Seck set themselves up for 17th and 33rd place in the 200m, keeping men’s track on pace with decent runs. Transitioning to mid-distance, Wiltshire kept his feet moving and headlined the group of four Beacons participating in the 400-meter run. Track and Field Results Reporting System noted that he, along with Hugo Dos Santos, Nouradine Sheck and Samuel Darius, put in the work, crossing in 12th, 16th, 24th and 26th place, respectively. [4]
Witthun held the fort down for the Beacons when the long-distance running began, as he posted the best placement of the day for men’s track in the 800m run, breezing through the race and making his presence known with a smooth third-place ranking. Sebastian Bien Amie got his feet wet in the 800m too, taking 28th place in the process. Isaiah Stressman took some stress off the Beacons’ plate in the 1000m by reaching 13th place on the leaderboard, and Rob Cannon made lightwork of the 3,000m run, posting the second-best ranking of the day for men’s track with a sixth-place finish. [4]
For the final track event of the day, UMass Boston paired Stressman, Witthun, Wiltshire and Dos Santos in the 4x400m relay, who all came together to muster up a sixth-place finish in the race. Afterwards, the Beacons got their hands and feet dirty in the field. Noah Arigoni posted the best finish among the Beacons’ field athletes, taking eighth place in High Jump. Prabhdeep Bassan took flight in the Long Jump for 16th place, while in the Weight Throw and Shot Put, the dynamic duo of Olutemi Alofe and Dawin Preval shined, nabbing 19th and 26th in the former, and back-to-back 20th and 21st place finishes in the latter. [4]
It’s safe to say that the Beacons had a field day Jan. 27 and are managing to keep themselves hot after sparking up in the dead of winter. Okorji, Colon and Garceau are stockpiling their accomplishments like there’s no tomorrow, improving on their masterful performances week after week. Meanwhile, the emergence of Poirier and the consistency of Cannon is helping men’s track stay afloat in their events; they hope to see more players reach the summit in the closing weeks of the season. With the LEC championship and NCAA Division III regionals approaching faster than the speed of Bobby’s light, both teams have the chance to make some magic in the meantime, and the Wesleyan Indoor Invite may have been the stepping stone they needed to anticipate what’s in store at the end of the month.
- Women’s Track and Field Continues At Wesleyan Indoor Invite – UMass Boston (beaconsathletics.com)
- Okorji Wins Second LEC Track Athlete of the Week Honors Following Wesleyan Invite – UMass Boston (beaconsathletics.com)
- TFRRS | Wesleyan T&F January Invite – Women’s Meet Results
- TFRRS | Wesleyan T&F January Invite – Men’s Meet Results