From NYU Athletics
The New York University men's track & field team launched its indoor campaign at the Ramapo Season Opener on Friday, January 13, at the Armory in Manhattan.
In a close race till the end, freshman Khayre Ali secured third in the 1,000m by recording a time of 2:34.81 after falling behind Wagner College's Joseph Abbatiello (2:30.21) and Ithaca College's Daniel Hart (2:32.45) on the final lap. Yuji Cusick, also making his collegiate indoor debut in the event, posted a time of 2:45.54 to finish eighth.
The Violets closed their night with a third-place finish in the 4x400m relay headed by seniors Budd Brown and Fred Lam, and juniors Vince Booth and Daniel Sovich. The foursome registered a time of 3:28.01.
"They had a really good run," Hurtault said. "They are a group of guys that wanted to get out there, and they competed really well. Budd led off with another good time. He is happy to get the cobwebs off for the start of the reason."
HIGHLIGHTS:
- Inside the track, junior Sherman King and senior Nick Hespe tied for sixth in the pole vault by clearing 4.25m, both on their first try.
- Freshmen Connor Riley (4:28.35) and Ben Karam (4:29.96) finished hip-to-hip in the mile to take ninth and 10th, respectively. Fellow classmate Benjamin Heintz finished 20th with a time of 4:42.68.
- Sophomore Julian Marrufo took eighth in the 5,000m, posting a personal-best time of 16:16.24.
- Lam and senior Nick Torsitano finished in 15th and 17th with times of 53:15 and 53:24, respectively.
- In the team scoring, the Violets finished 12th of 21 teams with 24 points.
"Next week is a second step in the season," said Hurtault. "Hopefully, everyone takes that next step. There is no rush here. We have plenty of time. It is just the idea that we just want to keep making progress."