DURHAM, N.H. – It was quite an afternoon for Bentley University sprinter and jumper Edy-Elliot Uthman-Olukokun (West Warwick, R.I./West Warwick HS) during the University of New Hampshire Wildcat Invitational Saturday as the freshman finished first in three events, including the 100 and 200 meters, and etched his name onto the program's all-time list in four.
Bentley went one-two in both sprint events with junior Eric Kennedy (West Hartford, Conn./ Northwest Catholic HS) finishing right behind his teammate in both. Uthman-Olukokun ran the 100 in 10.95 seconds, good for third on Bentley's all-time list, and Kennedy followed in 11.18. Uthman-Olukokun's winning time of 21.85 seconds put him at number two in program history and Kennedy's 21.94 was good for fourth all-time, and a personal best by 0.24 seconds.
Uthman-Olukokun qualified for the New Englands in both events, and Kennedy, already a New England qualifier in the 100, did so in the 200. They also combined with senior Bryan Carton (Norwell, Mass./ Norwell HS) and sophomore Steven Maffiolini (Southington, Conn./Southington HS) to win the 4x100 relay in a New England-qualifying time of 42.64. That was also the third best clocking in program history.
Uthman-Olukokun's day also included a fourth-place finish in the triple jump with his distance of 42 feet, seven inches putting him at number eight on the Bentley all-time list. Also in that event, sophomore Anthony Charter (Hubbardston, Mass./Quabbin Reg. HS) was third (43'1") and freshman Connor Hichens (Sharon, Mass./Sharon HS) took sixth with his effort of 41 feet, 10.75 inches putting him at tenth in program history.
Carton turned in a pair of sixth-place finishes, in the 400 (51.42) and in the 200, with his time of 22.59 seconds matching his PR.
Sophomore Chris Ricci (Coventry, R.I./Bishop Hendricken HS) placed fifth in the javelin (153'4") sophomore Ned Furtney (Canton, Conn./Canton HS) was sixth in the 3,000-meter steeplechase (10:43.94) and senior John Drago (Avon, Conn./Avon HS) bettered his PR in the 1500 by seven seconds with a 4:02.39. Sophomore Kyle Sullivan (Burlington, Mass./Burlington HS) also scored for the Falcons, finishing eighth in the shot (151'2").
In the team standings, Bentley was fourth of seven with 66 points. Finishing in front of the Falcons were UNH (256), Maine (156) and Bowdoin (143).
Next weekend, Bentley athletes will compete in both the Larry Ellis Invitational at Princeton and the MIT Invitational.
