Falcons Open Season At Mary Grinaker Invitational

Northampton, MA. – The Fitchburg State University men’s indoor track & field team opened their 2023-24 campaign today as they competed at the 2023 Mary Grinaker Invitational, hosted by Smith College.

Sat Dec 2, 2023

Felix paces Green and Gold with DIII NE qualifying time of 7.15 seconds in the 60M

Northampton, MA. – The Fitchburg State University men's indoor track & field team opened their 2023-24 campaign today as they competed at the 2023 Mary Grinaker Invitational, hosted by Smith College.

The Basics

Meet: Mary Grinaker Invitational
Location: Indoor Track & Tennis Complex
Scoring: No Team Scoring

How It Happened

Senior Nathaniel Felix (Worcester, MA) paced the Falcons, placing second overall in the 60 meter with a DIII New England qualifying time of 7.15 seconds, while freshman Matthew Gill (Ayer, MA) took top honors in the pole vault with a mark of 2.30 meters.

In the 400 meter, newcomer Jesse Moriello (Saugus, MA) (4th), classmate Maximus Lajoie (Worcester, MA) (8th) and senior Matthew Radder (West Seneca, NY) (10th) posted times of 55.49, 58.61 and 1:00:47, while sophomore Omar Elmi (Worcester, MA) (2:07.81), freshman Matt Telson (Everett, MA) (2:11.31), sophomore Brady Madigan (Ayer, MA) (2:11.44 and senior Tyssen LaBombard (Shelburne Falls, MA) (2:14.61) finished second, third, fourth and sixth in the 800 meter.

In the mile, graduate student Cameron Davis (Gardner, MA) (6th), sophomore Michael Burns (Worcester, MA) (9th) and junior Joshua Leaffer (North Andover, MA) (10th) posted times of 4:54.60, 5:31.50 and 5:40.54, while the 4x200 meter relay team of Felix, Moriello, freshman Keenan Ansah (Plymouth, MA) and classmate Alvaro Castillo-Clottier Jr (Palmer, MA) turned in a first place time of 1:34.55.

In the 3000 meter, Burns (10:28.68), Davis (10:32.76) and senior Elijah Stathis (Northampton, MA) (10:39.76) finished third, fourth and sixth, while Castillo-Clottier, Jr (6th) and 9thnewcomer Lennox Mercado (Lowell, MA) (9th) turned in times of 24.10 and 24.31 seconds in the 200 meter.

In the field, sophomore Liam Bourassa (Shirley, MA) (12.68M), freshman John Koutsouoa (Bindsboro, PA) (11.64M) and junior Cameron Monette (Winchendon, MA) (11.58M) finished third, sixth and seventh in the shot put, while in the weight throw, Monette (2nd), Bourassa (3rd) and Koutsouoa (10th) notched tosses of 13.92M, 13.63M and 10.85M.

In the long jump, junior Eric Shimiyimana (Worcester, MA) (6th), Mercado (10th) and Ansah (11th) posted marks of 6.20M, 5.87M and 5.47M, while freshman Tyler Kwamo (Auburn, MA) finished second in the high jump with a mark of 1.78 meters.

Shimiyimana (12.67M), Kwamo (12.63M) and Castillo-Clottier Jr (11.18M) placed first, second and fifth in the triple jump, while the 4x400 meter relay team of junior Cristian Bueno Campos (Lawrence, MA) Castillo-Clottier Jr, Mercado and Felix rounded out the top Falcon efforts on the day with a third place time of 3:55.93.

By The Numbers

Up Next

Falcons return to action on Friday as they compete at the 2023 Joe Donahue Games at the New Balance Track.