MIDDLETOWN, Conn. – The UMass Dartmouth men's track & field team opened their 2026 outdoor season on Saturday at the J. Elmer Swanson Invitational – hosted by Wesleyan University on Saturday at the Andersen Track. There were a number of strong performances by the Corsairs at the non-team scoring meet.
In the 100-meter dash, junior
Justin Andrade finished sixth overall in a time of 11.11, while rookie
Shemar Dillon was 14th in 11.34. Sophomore
Jonathan Gourdine placed 24th overall in 11.57, while rookies
Carlos Cruz and
Jayden Francois were 28th (11.74) and 29th (11.75), respectively.
Also in the 100-m dash, rookie
Bryce Kankam placed 35th in 11.81, sophomore
Maddox Dupre was 37th in 11.82, rookie
Dylan Njika was 30th in 11.89, while sophomore
Kevin Ayala was 40th in 11.91. Rookie
Karens Antoine rounded out the action in 51st (12.75).
Sophomore
Daniel Jordan placed 11th overall in the 200-meter dash with a time of 22.64, while Gourdine, Andrade and Dillon were 18th (22.95), 19th (22.95) and 20th (23.04), respectively. Sophomore
Bunmi Fabikun was 23rd overall in 23.12, while Dupre was 41st in 23.87. Rookie
Jaiden Cohall was 45th overall in 23.92, junior
RJ Stone was 53rd in 24.15, while rookie
Kaden Thomas was 66th in 24.64.
In the 400-meters, rookie
Michael Veegh took sixth overall with a DIII New England qualifying time of 50.32, while Thomas and sophomore
Isaac Toweh were 25th (54.67) and 27th (54.95), respectively. Junior
Josh Kurutu rounded out the event in 42nd in 1:01.77.
Junior
Zack Shute posted 16th overall in the 1500-meters with a time of 4:20.24, while classmate
Ronan Maloney was 19th in 4:25.09. Rookie
Edward Yeboah took 23rd overall in 4:29.65, while junior
Tyler Scanlon was 27th in 4:35.35. Senior
Cooper Blatz rounded out the event in 36th in 4:56.85.
The 5,000-meters was paced by junior
Joseph Stanton, who posted fourth overall in 15:56.29. Sophomore
Jack Barbato was fifth in 16:34.67, while rookie
Stevie MacLennan was sixth in 16:37.67. Rookie
William Johnson posted eighth in 17:06.71, classmate
Sean Benvissuto was ninth in 17:08.97, sophomore
Michael Gemelli was 10th in 17:11.20, while junior
Ben Bairos rounded out the event in 12th in 17:50.27.
In the 10,000-meters, senior
Ethan Sylvia was third overall in 33:49.44, while sophomore
Connor Bruni and senior
Colin Ozturk were seventh (34:27.25) and eighth (34:27.96), respectively. The 400-meter hurdles saw rookie
Jacob Marques place ninth overall in 1:01.79.
In the 4x400-meter relay, the group of Veegh, Jordan, Fabikun and Cohall were fifth overall in 3:31.44, while Benvissuto, Gemelli, Johnson and Bairos were 10th in 4:09.21. The Corsairs then won the 4x800-meter relay in 8:31.77 as Shute, Yeboah, Scanlon and Maloney combined for the win.
In the high jump, rookie
Ewan McLeod claimed victory with a personal best and DIII New England qualifying height of 2.03 meters (6' 7.75"), while sophomore
Sean Patrone was third overall with a DIII New England qualifying mark of 1.95 meters (6' 4.75"). Senior
Vincenzo Videtta placed fifth overall with a DIII New England qualifying mark of 1.90 meters (6' 2.75").
The long jump saw Kankam finish seventh overall with a jump of 6.36 meters (20' 6.5"), while sophomore
Ancil Alexander claimed victory in the shot put with a DIII New England qualifying mark of 16.19 meters (53' 1.5"). Sophomore
Mickey Valentino also had a DIII NE qualifying mark, finishing third overall with a throw of 14.07 meters (46' 2"). Rookie Chalais Saintil was fifth with a DIII NE qualifying mark of 13.94 meters (45' 9"), while graduate student
Joseph Uwanogho was sixth – also posting a DIII NE qualifying mark of 13.86 meters (45' 5.75").
Sophomore
Kevin Saenz placed 14th in the shot put with a mark of 12.61 meters (41' 4.5"), while rookie
Dan McCarthy was 17th overall with a throw of 11.99 meters (39' 4").
Alexander went on to claim victory in the discus throw with a DIII New England qualifying mark of 51.13 meters (167' 9"), while Saintil had a throw of 43.34 meters (142' 2") – also a DIII NE qualifying mark. Saenz was 19th with a throw of 36.53 meters (119' 10"), while McCarthy was 22nd with a throw of 34.95 meters (114' 8").
In the hammer throw, rookie
Michael Gama placed second overall with a DIII New England qualifying throw of 47.51 meters (155'10"). Uwanogho was seventh overall with a throw of 44.44 meters (145' 10"), while Valentino was 10th with a distance of 43.63 meters (143' 2"). Rookie Michael Precious rounded out the action in 24th with a throw of 34.37 meters (112. 9").
In the javelin throw, rookie
Malik Escoffery posted 17th overall with a distance of 34.68 meters (113' 9").
UMass Dartmouth returns to action next weekend when they host the Corsair Classic at the UMD Track & Field Complex. Action kicks off on Friday at 1pm with several throws, followed by the rest of the action on Saturday beginning at 11am.
