HINGHAM, Mass. – Suffolk men's outdoor track & field saw seven Rams compete in a new event with two student-athletes making their collegiate debuts overall at the blue-and-gold's own Suffolk Invite this weekend.
The event was spread out over two locations Saturday and Sunday. The bulk of the competition occurred Sunday, April 25 at Hingham High School with the discus and hammer throw preceding the other events on Saturday, April 24 at Gordon's Brigham Athletic Complex.
Matthew Mitchell began his collegiate career in the 100. The freshman finished sixth in the 20-runner field behind a time of 12.18. He also appeared in the nine-runner 200 field. His time of 25.14 was good for fourth, while junior captain Robert Solari secured second with an outdoor personal record of 23.79.
A trio of Suffolk student-athletes made one lap around the track. Cole Bolduc's 52.25 was the best of the Rams and good for third in the seven-runner heat. Kely Maloney, who ran the 400 for the first time in his collegiate career, was two spots behind Bolduc in fifth with a time of 56.27. Arthur Lacerda was right on the rookie's heels in the sixth spot behind a 56.85 showing.
The rest of the Rams' runners competed in the two-mile, all participating in the event for the first time in their careers. Hunter Toyoda took second out of the 11 runners, six of which represented Suffolk. Dubin (10:18.22) and Justin Turner (10:20.53) placed third and fourth, respectively. Garrity (10:36.34) and Nic Malm (10:47.04) were in the top 10 as well in sixth and seventh. Thomas Fidrocki put together an 11:42.86 performance in the vent in his first collegiate outing.
Toyoda led off Suffolk's 4x400 relay team. The sophomore was joined by Lacerda, Shea Duffy and Conor Garrity. That foursome combined for a time of 3:58.13.
Michael Power participated in three fielding events. His top performance came behind a personal-record 28.79-meter toss in the hammer throw. He was the only Ram in the shot put, in which he finished in the middle of the 13-particcipant pack in seventh with a 9.78 throw. The Southbridge, Massachusetts, native lobbed the discus 25.01 meters as well.
Matt Sambucetti secured a pair of personal-bests. In the discus his 32.86-meter throw was good for fifth, while his 34.28-meter hammer throw toss locked up third place for the senior.
Michael Balestra continued to have a perfect season in the hammer throw. The junior topped the eight-person field behind a 51.15-meter toss. He also performed well in the discus with a 32.95-meter showing, good for fourth.
Suffolk will be back in action as a team one final time in 2021 at next weekend's CCC Invitational Sunday, May 2 at Roger Williams in Portsmouth, Rhode Island.