NEW LONDON, Conn.  -  The Coast Guard Academy men's track & field team had a strong showing at the Bear Invitational on Friday, winning the meet with a team score of 117; Eastern Connecticut State tallied 104 to finish as runners-up.

The Bears won five different events on the day. In sprints, junior Glenn Patrick (Fairhope, Ala.) won the 55-meters with a personal best of 6.62, while sophomore Ian Naff (Arlington, Va.) won the 400-meters with a 49.49. In distance, freshman James Kuduk (Harleysville, Pa.) won the 800-meters at 2:02.46, while fellow first-year Miles Taylor (Austin, Tex.) took home second in the mile with a time of 4:37.16. The trio of  Thaddeus O'Neill (Wilmington, N.C.) and juniors Andy Kehias (Bloomington, Ill.) and Gus Lempriere (Seattle, Wash.) swept the 5000-meters with respective times of 16:40.12, 16:40.50, and 16:45.50.

In the 4x800 relay, Coast Guard achieved a convincing win thanks to the team of Sam Myers (Ponte Vedra, Fla.), Paul Hobbs (Vacaville, Calif.), Christian Gottlieb (Harpers Ferry, W.Va.), and Brendan Fant (East Lyme, Conn.) cruising to an 8:19.12 finish.

In the jumping events, freshman Scott Bayliss (Hudson, Ohio) was fourth in the high jump, clearing 1.85 meters (6' 0.75"); junior Liam Kuperman (Lewiston, N.Y.) set a new personal best in the pole vault with his 4.00-meter (13' 1.5") clearance, which was also good for third overall; and freshman Tytan Moore (St. Petersburg, Fla.) was fourth in the long jump at 6.10 meters (20' 0.25") and sixth in triple jump with 12.24 meters (40' 2").

For the throwers, Vincent Grillo (Wilmington, Del.) set a new personal best in the shot put, finishing second with a 13.87-meter throw (45' 6.25"), while senior captain Philip Kirby (North Andover, Mass.) set personal bests in both shot put (13.16 meters/43' 2.25") and weight throw (15.18 meters/49' 9.75") to finish fifth and fourth, respectively.

Men's track & field has a doubleheader scheduled for next week's action. On Friday, February 14th, the Bears head up to Boston University again, this time for the Terriers' David Hemery Invitational. The following day, they make their way to Medford for the Tufts Invitational.