Two Program Records Fall For Track and Field At Tufts

RESULTS

MEDFORD, Mass. - The Babson College track and field teams posted two more school records and saw another athlete qualify for the NCAA Regional Championships on Saturday, as the Beavers competed at the Snowflake Invitational hosted by Tufts University. The men finished 11th overall at the event, while the women placed 15th.

For the men's team, senior captain Kevin Butera (Walpole, Mass.) and first-year Varun Bhandari (Andover, Mass.) both set new Babson records. Butera surpassed his own school mark in the triple jump, finishing fifth with a distance of 41'4.25". Bhandari took 12th in the 200 meter dash with a time of 23.48, breaking the seven-year old Babson record of 23.71 set by Hamel Husbands in 2001.

Also performing well for the men was senior captain Greg Keshian (North Andover, Mass.), who followed up a 25th-place effort in the 1500 (4:19.33) with an eighth-place performance in the 5000 (16:07.09). Butera added a ninth-place showing in the long jump and junior Charlie Brown (Bronx, N.Y.) took 11th in the 110 meter hurdles.

For the women, junior Lauren Blackburn (York, Maine) qualified for the NCAA Division III New England Championships in the 400 meter hurdles for the third straight seasons, finishing eighth overall with a time of 1:09.90. Blackburn also performed well in the 100 meter hurdles, finishing 11th in 17.78 seconds.

Other highlights for the women included first-year Michelle Black's (San Diego, Calif.) performance in the 5000 meter run, where she finished 11th with a strong time of 19:46.06, and a 10th-place effort in the shot put by Rachel Licciardi (Andover, Mass.), who set a personal best with a throw of 30'3.75".