NEW LONDON, Conn. —
Paul Hobbs (Vacaville, Calif.) broke the Gregory Field House Record in the 5000m to headline the U.S. Coast Guard Academy men's track & field team's first place effort at CGA Winter Invite #2 on Friday, the Bears second and final indoor home meet of the season. Coast Guard compiled 135 points to top the seven-team meet and edge out runners-up Farmingdale State College, who had 120.
Eastern Connecticut State University recorded 68 points to take a narrow battle for third place from Fitchburg State University, who finished with 62. Fifth went to Westfield State University with 49, and Connecticut College and Worcester State University rounded out the standings with respective totals of 30 for sixth and 12 for seventh.
Hobbs's time of 15:01.89 broke the previous 37-year-old record of 15:03.30 set by
Steve Gaebel of Westfield State in 1989. Hobbs' win was also indicative of a dominant effort in the event by the Bears, who took five of the top six spots.
James Kuduk (Harleysville, Pa.) was runner-up at 15:48.61, followed by
Evan Rimmele (Middletown, N.J.) in third at 16:09.99.
Graham Fenn (Hyattsville, Md.) was fifth at 16:21.05 and
Jack Cura (Cape May, N.J.) rounded it out with a sixth place finish of 16:26.80.
Glenn Patrick (Fairhope, Ala.) moved up to second place on the program's all-time indoor leaderboards with his win in the 55m, posting the fastest time and personal record of 6.54 seconds.
Jay Herndon (Centerton, Ark.) continued his impressive debut season by placing fifth overall with a PR time of 6.62 seconds, slotting him into fourth on the program leaderboard.
Collin Vislay (Pensacola, Fla.) and
Kai Phan (Huntington Beach, Calif.) also posted new PB's in the event, respectively going 6.96 and 7.04.
Patrick and Herndon also posted a pair of strong performances in the 200m as Patrick placed third at 23.51 and Herndon placed fifth at 23.84. Vislay set a new personal record in that event, as well, by crossing the finish in the 24.91 seconds.
The Bears saw more success in mid-distance, specifically the 800m.
Sam Blake (Severna Park, Md.) was the winner of that race with a personal best time of 1:56.94,
Dylan Reed (Caledonia, Miss.) also PR'd in third place with a time of 1:58.93, and
Andrew Rowan took fifth in 2:04.47.
Carlos Garcia (Bristow, Va.) also set a personal best in the event with a 2:05.11 run.
The 400m featured
Christian Gottlieb (Harpers Ferry, W.Va.) place third in 53.60 seconds and
Miles Taylor (Austin, Tex,) place fourth in 53.71, while
Grant Kellenberger (Mohnton, Pa.) ran 54.01 for sixth.
Darius Kirvelevicius (East Lyme, Conn.) was Coast Guard's top miler, finishing as runner-up with a PB time of 4:35.72, while
Andrew Link (Winchester, Va.) was the Bears' top hurdler by going 8.62 in the 55m Hurdles prelim.
The 4x800m relay team of
Sam Myers (Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.),
Brendan Fant (East Lyme, Conn.), Gottlieb, and Taylor finished first overall with a 8:12.90 pace. Kirvelevicius,
Aaron Letner (Rapid City, S.D.), Reed, and Rowan teamed up for second place in the 4x400m at 3:39.06.
Field events were led by lots of excitement from pole vault, where
Hayden Bergman (Magnolia, Del.) tied for first place with a collegiate PR clearance of 4.45m (14' 7.25").
Apia T'oto'o (Towson, Md.) was fourth place with a personal best 4.00m (13' 1.5"), and also setting a new PB was
Parker Howard (Deerfield, Wisc.) at 3.55m (11' 7.75").
Scott Bayliss (Hudson, Ohio) was another winner for the Bears, soaring over a bar set at 1.92m (6' 3.5") to take high jump.
Tytan Moore (St. Petersburg, Fla.) took respective third and fourth place finished in the long and triple jump by submitting leaps of 6.48m (21' 3") and 13.02m (42' 8.5").
In the throwing cage,
Vincent Grillo (Wilmington, Del.) was fourth in shot put at 13.56m (44' 7.75").
Anthony Gasparovic (Ocean City, N.J.) and
Christian Schlauch (Annapolis, Md.) were fifth and sixth in weight throw with respective PR's of 14.12m (46' 4") and 13.96m (45' 9").
FULL MEET RESULTS via TFRRS
Bears men's track & field takes on a pair of meets next weekend, sending some to compete at Tufts University's Cupid Challenge and others to Boston University's David Hemery Valentine's Invitational.
