Amidst a field of more than 10 teams at the Terrier Invitational on Saturday, senior David Proctor stood out for the Boston University men’s track and field team with an NCAA Championship-qualifying 1-mile run.
Proctor crossed the finish line in 4 minutes, 0.26 seconds, putting him in second place behind Syracuse University’s Brad Miller and sending him to College Station, Texas, on March 13 to run the event with a national title on the line.
‘David was phenomenal as usual,’ BU coach Robyne Johnson said. ‘I expect him to be an All-American, meaning he will finish in the top eight at nationals. Hopefully, it’s closer towards the top of that eight.’
Fellow senior Chadd Steinhauser also had an impressive day, qualifying for the Intercollegiate Association of Amateur Athletes of America (IC4A) tournament in the 500-meter dash with a time of 1:04.96. Steinhauser already qualified for the IC4As in the 800-meter run earlier this season.
The IC4A is a yearly competition in men’s track and field that includes colleges exclusively from the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states. This year, the IC4As will be held at BU’s Track and Tennis Center on March 7 and 8.
But before the IC4A rolls into town, Johnson has her eye on another meet hosted at BU, the America East Championship on Feb. 20.
‘We’re building right now. We keep getting better,’ Johnson said. ‘We’re trying to peak at the conference championship, which we’ve won the last three years in a row. So, we’re trying to make it four now.’
With the way Proctor and Steinhauser raced Saturday, the Terriers should stack up well with their America East competition.
Other notable weekend performances included that of junior Max Esposito, who led the Terriers in the 400-meter dash in 49.69 seconds to finish 19th overall. Also, freshman R.J. Page made a splash in his collegiate debut by racing his way to 13th place in the preliminaries of the 55-meter dash with a time of 6.59. In the same event, fellow freshman Matt Pereira placed 26th, clocking in at 6.74.
In the 4×400-meter relay, the team of Esposito, junior Mark Mazzochette, freshman Tewado Latty and Steinhauser set the best time by a Terrier relay team this season with a ninth-place finish in 3:20.58. Meanwhile, senior Jason Nardella was the only BU racer in the 55-meter hurdles, which he finished 28th with a time of 8.59.
Off the track, the Terriers also found some success in the field events. In the long jump, senior Kodjo Wilder finished 11th with a distance of 6.52 meters. Junior Mac-Alen Gerard leaped 13.45 meters to finish ninth in the triple jump. In shot put, sophomore Dan Withrow threw 15.19 meters to place seventh, and he also competed in the weight throw, tossing 13.37 meters to finish 39th. Two Terriers tied for 16th in the pole vault ‘- junior Jordan Cumper and freshman Justin Maes. Both cleared 3.90 meters.
‘We’re well rounded. We’re repped well in just about all the events,’ Johnson said.
The Terriers’ next event will be the Battle of Beantown, an aptly named competition for Boston-area colleges.
‘[The Battle of Beantown] should really give us a good look as to where we stand for the conference championship,’ Johnson said. ‘Usually, you don’t have such a high-caliber competition this early in the season, but it should really give us a window to evaluate ourselves.’
The Battle of Beantown will be hosted by Harvard this year and will take place on Feb. 7 at 11 a.m.
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