Men's Track & Field Competes at Jerry Gravel Classic

WESTFIELD, Mass. -- The Bridgewater State University men's outdoor track & field team competed at the Jerry Gravel Classic hosted by Westfield State University on Saturday.

The Bears placed second in the team standings with 129 points.

Freshmen Lamont Haynes (Boston, Mass.), Joshua Higgins (Fitchburg, Mass.) and Olivier Ndikumana (Amherst, Mass.), and junior Michael Kotleski (Great Barrington, Mass.) captured top honors in the 4x400-meter relay with a time of 3:25.56.

Haynes also placed first in the 400-meter dash (49.52), while Higgins finished first in the 800-meter run (1:57.76) and Kotleski was the first to cross the line in the 400-meter hurdles (56.97). All three posted season-best times in their respective events.

Haynes qualified for the NEICAAA Championships in the 400.

Sophomore Joseph Keough (Walpole, Mass.) and junior Joseph Kisamore (Attleboro, Mass.) rounded out the Bears' event winners. Keough placed first in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a career-best time of 10:03.84, while Kisamore grabbed top accolades in the 1,500-meter run with a career-best time of 4:05.21

Freshman Joshua Winsper (Rochester, Mass.) also had a terrific day for the Bears. Competing in the F41 classification, Winsper posted a mark of 27 feet, 6.5 inches (8.39m) in the shot put as he automatically qualified for the World Paralympic Games.

Earlier this season, Winsper hit U.S. National qualifying and Emerging Elite standards in both the shot put and the javelin.

Next Friday, the Bears will compete at the 10th Annual Eastern Invitational hosted by Eastern Connecticut State University. Several members of the team will be competing at the Larry Ellis Invitational hosted by Princeton University on Friday and Saturday.