The Merrimack Men’s Track and Field Team achieved six event wins and earned a total of 24 podium finishes at the Merrimack Track Alumni Classic, held Thursday afternoon at Duane Stadium.
The team’s strong performance was highlighted by Gab Qureshi, who won both the 200 meter dash with a time of 22.69 seconds and the 400 meter dash in 49.07 seconds. In the 200 meter event, Thomas Scalia and Maddox Merlo completed an all-Merrimack podium with times of 23.01 and 23.02 seconds respectively.
Ben Rich claimed victory in the 5,000 meter race with a time of 15:35.82, followed closely by Ben Smith (15:42.72) and Brody Fahys (15:43.62), securing more top-three placements for Merrimack in distance events.
Aidan Dupill took first place in the 1,500 meter race with a time of 4:00.53 while Michael Alleva finished seventh at 4:07.64. The relay team consisting of Manny Mahoney, Maximus Zitnay, Jadis Yarbrough, and Elizardo Melenciano won the men’s 4×100 relay with a mark of 42.38 seconds.
In field events, Owen LaRoss led in discus throw with a mark of 44.19 meters as Grant Eastin placed third (42.61 meters). Eastin also finished second in hammer throw (54.03 meters), while teammates Jared Ptaszek (52.40 meters) and Jude Ibarra (49.38 meters) rounded out third and fourth places respectively.
Additional notable performances included runner-up results from Elizardo Melenciano in the men’s hurdles (110m hurdles -15.03s; third place in the men’s shot put –14.50m), Keith Townsend’s second-place finish in high jump (1.80m), Evan Thevenot’s second-place results for both long jump (6.62m) and triple jump (12.42m), as well as several other top-four placements across sprints and throws.
