Men’s Track and Field Impresses, Buren ’22 Breaks 60m School Record

While the majority of campus was away for winter break, the men’s track and field team remained in Amherst, to compete in the program’s winter season.

The team’s first meet of the year was the Little Three Championships, where they bested hosts Wesleyan on their home track. Sophomore Ryan Prenosil won the 400-meter dash in 50.73 seconds, the fastest time in meet history, and anchored the 4×400 race, which won second place. In the 1000-meter race, Kristian Sogaard ’19 sat in fourth place with one lap to go, but managed to pass the remaining three runners on the final lap to record the victory. The following weekend, the Mammoths placed seventh out of 14 teams at the Smith College Pioneer Invitational. First years Henry Buren and Owen Daily had great meets– Buren broke the school record in the 60-meter dash with a time of 7.15 seconds. In the 3000 meters, Daily led the race from the opening gun, winning with a time of 8:51.

“Breaking the 60-meter record feels great, but I really see it as the beginning of what the track team can accomplish,” Buren said. “We have placed a great foundation, and now the pieces are starting to fall together.”

At the Branwen Smith-King Invitational the next weekend, hosted by Tufts, Amherst’s runners impressed again, finishing third out of 18 teams. Buren recorded another outstanding finish in the 60-meter race, beating his own record by one hundredth of a second and finished fourth in a field of 71 runners. Behind Buren, Arzineolisa Uddoh ’22 also qualified for the semifinals in the 60 meters.

In the 3000 meters, Cosmo Brossy ’19 and Clark Ricciardelli ’20E ran nearly their entire race together, both crossing the line with a time of 8:27. Behind the duo, Spencer Ferguson-Dryden ’20 and Braxton Schuldt ’21 both ran personal bests, running 8:34 and 8:44, respectively.

Amherst also had athletes compete in the heptathlon, which was held over two days. Athletes compete in the 100-meter hurdles, high jump, shot put, 200-meter race, long jump, javelin throw and 800-meter race. Troy Colleran ’22 placed second with a score of 4396 points.

In the field events, Jordan Edwards ’20 saved his best jump for last, placing second in the triple jump with a distance of 13.38 meters.

Theo Bates ’20 also performed well in the long jump, needing only one attempt to secure third place with a result of 6.53 meters.

Amherst next competed at the Tufts Cupid Challenge on Feb. 2, where Arinzeolisa Uddoh ’22 added to the Mammoths’ burgeoning success in the 60-meter dash, notching a fourth-place finish in the finals with a time of 7.19 seconds. In the 600-meter run, Ralph Skinner ’20 made his season debut, winning his heat with a time of 1:23, while Andrew Swenson ’21 placed third in the same heat with a time of 1:25. Billy Massey ’21 ran 4:18 in the mile to place fourth.

The Mammoths dominated the 5000-meter race, as Ricciardelli winning in a time of 14:28, only four seconds off of the school record. Brossy worked with Ricciardelli for most of the race, placing second. Both Schuldt and sophomore Jamie Mazzola also set personal bests in the race as well to run 15:10 and 15:28, respectively.

The Mammoths will compete in Boston this weekend, with some of the team running at the Boston University Valentine Invitational, and the rest of the team competing at MIT’s Gordon Kelley Invitational.