SOMERVILLE, Mass. – Suffolk men's outdoor track & field had the majority of its roster in action for the first time in 2022 as the Rams competed at the highly competitive Tufts Snowflake Classic at Dussault Track.
In the running events it was the long-distance Rams that shined. In his first outdoor event of his collegiate career, Thomas Novy put on a show as he cruised to a a third-place performance in the 5000, a field of 25. The freshman from Simsbury, Connecticut, crossed the line in 15:25.24. His time that sits atop the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) this season and is the 21st best in New England was just .24 seconds shy of punching a ticket to regionals.
Matyas Csiki-Fejer clocked a 3:58.11 1500 to claim second in the 53-runner field. That time puts the senior from Manchester, Missouri ninth in New England this year.
Luke Sikora (4:22.00), Jadan Wenceslao (4:26.67), Conor Garrity (4:32.80), Nic Malm (4:36.98), Connor Hayward(4:34.98), Jacob Dubin (4:36.00) and Zachary Martin (4:40.04) joined Csiki-Fejer in the event.
Suffolk's sprinters donned the blue-and-gold in four different events: 100, 200, 400 and 800.
Jonathan Garula (12.23) and Jason Motta (12.82) ran the 100, while Turner Mitchell (23.88) and John Avakian competed in the 200.
Robert Solari had a stand-out showing in the 400 as the senior made his lap around the track in 51.72 to take 10th overall. Arthur Lacerda competed alongside his co-captain and put together a 58.37 time.
Selvin Backert had a top-20 showing in the 800 with his time of 2:02.86 good for 18th. Cole Bolduc (2:03.53) and Kely Maloney (2:03.8) were within the top-25 as well in 22nd and 24th, respectively. Justin Turner (2:06.19) and Evan Wright (2:07.13) were featured in the 61-runner field as well.
Suffolk had a pair of relay teams join forces on Saturday. Brady Sorensen, Carter Nevulis, Motta and Garula teamed up in 4x100 and Turner, Wright, Tim Barry and Maloney combined efforts in the 4x400.
Gavin Reid made his outdoor debut and was the only Ram to participating in the jumping events. His three jumps in the triple totaled 11.77 meters, good for fifth in the 10-jumper field. The junior cleared 5.45 meters in the long jump to claim 18th. His three jumps in the triple jump.
The blue-and-gold fielders shined the most for Suffolk.
Michael Balestra punched his ticket to regionals in the hammer throw with a 47.38-toss. That performance not only was good enough for third in the 33-thrower field Saturday, but is the best showing by a CCC student-athlete in the event this year and ranks fifth in New England. Frank Irizarry (34.06) and Matthew Smith (33.06) participated in the hammer throw as well.
Rams records fell in the discus and javelin. Matthew Smith logged a 35.62 toss in the discus to break the program record and finish 13th, while Edward Abouzeid shoved the javelin 43.26, also a top mark in the blue-and-gold all-time list.
Eddie McCarthy and Michael Power, who also competed in the discus, rounded out the Rams competitors in the shot put.
As a team, Suffolk finished 10th in the 18-team field, that featured CCC counterparts Gordon (11th) and Wentworth (eighth).
The Rams have a full weekend next week with events on Friday and Saturday. Suffolk will first send student-athletes to Regis Spring Invite April 8 before participating at Fitchburg State's Jim Sheehan Invite the following day, April 9. The Duke Invitational is also on the Rams' schedule next week. Csiki-Fejer received a special invite to represent the Rams in Durham, North Carolina.