The men’s track and field team started off their weekend and their season on a high note, with two individual champions in only two events and a first place ranking on Friday. Unfortunately, their first place standing didn’t hold, but they still managed to stay strong and make their presence known.
On Friday, senior Kevin McGettrick won the 10,000-meter run with a time of 32:56.40 – over 13 seconds ahead of the second place finisher. However, he was not the only Yellowjacket to gain 10 points for the team that day. Senior Mike Burgstrom placed first in the hammer throw with a distance of 48.44 meters. Sophomore Eric Scheele placed seventh in the same event with a distance of 40.82 meters.
The men finished Saturday with 115 points and in fourth place of seven teams, though they were only a point and a half behind third.
“It was a good meet overall,” freshman Jon Antista said. “We had some ups and downs, but, for the first meet of the year, we had lots of good, solid performances.”
Antista was a member of the group of sprinters who contributed to the Yellowjackets’ performance. He placed fifth in the 100-meter dash with a time of 11.96 seconds. Sophomore Max Ehrmann placed sixth in the same event, clocking in at 11.97. Also, senior Kirk Bristol placed eight in the 200-meter dash with a time of 23.59.
In the 400-meter dash, senior Matt Tierney placed third, clocking in at 50.01. However, his seed time was 48.72, just one-hundredth of a second behind his own school record, which he set in 2004. Senior Chris Nolan also placed third, but in the 800-meter run with a time of 1:58.90.
The hurdle racers were a strong and much needed presence for UR. They racked up 21 points for the team. In the 400-meter hurdles, freshman Brian Kraftschik was second with a time of 57.86. Freshman Malik Sams was fourth with a time of 58.87, sophomore Jon DeRight was sixth with a time of 1:00.35 and sophomore Simon Stample was eighth, clocking in at 1:04.02.
Both relay teams placed third for the day. The 4×100-meter relay team, consisting of Ehrmann, Tierney, Bristol and Antista finished in 43.31 and the 4×400-meter relay team, consisting of Bristol, junior Jake Pylman, Ehrmann and Tierney clocked in at 3:28.13.
Field event participators gained some hard-earned points for UR, as well. Sophomore Dan Goeckler won the pole vault, clearing 4.26 meters and freshman Kevin Easton was third in the high jump, jumping 1.78 meters. In the triple jump, freshman Travis Butaccio came in first with a distance of 12.17 meters, placing third in the long jump with a distance of 6.16 meters.
Scheele placed third in the shot put with a distance of 13.81 meters and freshman Matt Starr was seventh in the javelin throw with a distance of 45.33 meters.
This weekend, the Yellowjackets will be competing in the UR Alumni Invitational, located here at Fauver Stadium. The meet starts at 10 a.m. on Saturday.
Philbrick can be reached at ephilbrick@campustimes.org.
