MEDFORD, Mass. – In the cold and the flurries at Tufts University Saturday afternoon, the Bentley University men's track and field team received winning performances from sophomore Nik Hass (Ramsey, N.J./Ramsey HS) and freshman Beau Kraft (Bayport, N.Y./Bayport-Blue Point HS) as it opened its outdoor season at the appropriately-named Tufts Snowflake Classic.
Haas finished first in a field of 92 in the 1500 meters with his time of 4:02.74 giving him a winning margin of 1.46 seconds over Harvard freshman Ben Huffman. Sophomore Tim Bolick (Hopkinton/Hopkinton HS) also turned in a strong effort, placing 17th with a 4:14.29. Their times ranked second and fourth, respectively, on the early season Northeast-10 Conference performance list.
In his collegiate outdoor debut in the discus, Kraft had the best throw among 22 competitors with his distance of 129 feet, 8 inches number one in the NE-10 so far this season and good for fifth on Bentley's all-time performance list. He took first by nearly two feet over Tufts' Brian Williamson. Senior John Chiulli (Lynbrook, N.Y./Lynbrook HS) also scored in the discus, placing sixth (119'1").
Kraft was also ninth of 41 in the shot put with his throw of 39 feet, 7 inches second best in the NE-10 to date.
Another Bentley freshman who excelled in a field event was Holt Sihvonen (Lebanon, Conn./ Lyman Memorial HS) . In his first collegiate meet, he was third of 25 in the javelin after uncorking a throw of 158 feet, 10 inches. That put him at number two in the NE-10 so far. Also in that event, Falcon junior Wes Dupray (Rowley/St. John's Prep HS) was seventh (151'9").
Junior Connor Hichens (Sharon/Sharon HS) had Bentley's only second place performance, achieved in a field of 18 in the triple jump with a distance of 43 feet, 10 inches, best in the conference so far.
The 3000 meters saw junior David Cooper (Woburn/Woburn HS) finish fourth out of 23 (9:14.87) and freshman Seamus Higgins (Randolph, N.J./Randolph HS) two places behind him (9:29.41).
In the 5,000, sophomore Erik Alatalo (Wilmington/Wilmington HS) and senior Mac Segura-Cook (Northwood, N.H./Coe-Brown Northwood Acad.) were fifth and sixth, respectively. Alatalo finished in 16:01.31 and Segura-Cook's time was 16:05.47.
Senior Steve Maffiolini (Southington, Conn./Southington HS) scored in two events as he was sixth of 48 in the 400 (a conference-best 51.39) and eighth of 38 in the 200 (23.99).
In the team standings, Bentley placed fourth among 22 teams with 58 points. Ahead of the Falcons were Tufts (111.5), Northeastern (100) and Bridgewater State (91).
Next Saturday, Bentley will be at the UMass-Dartmouth Invitational.
