Figuereo, Livingston Lead Track & Field at Tufts Stampede
MEDFORD, Mass. – Led by individual victories from sophomore Noelia Figuereo (Haverhill, Mass.) and freshman Denzel Livingston (Billerica, Mass.) in their respective events, the Merrimack track and field team competed admirably at the Tufts Stampede held at Tufts University on Saturday afternoon.
Both Figuereo and Livingston, first-year Warriors who have had notable impacts on the team in the early goings of the season, helped both sides finish respectably in the team standings.
One week removed from earning its first-ever team victory in program history, the Warrior men earned 24 team points to place 12th in a 20-team field, while the women finished in 15th place in a field of 24 schools.
For Figuereo, it was business as usual in the 60m dash. The Haverhill, Mass., native qualified for the finals with a 7.85 time in the preliminary round, and then edged Harvard's Ashley Collinsworth for the title in the finals, winning the race by a time of 7.79.
Moving to distance, freshman Kerry Phelan (Peabody, Mass.) just missed scoring in the 3000m race, as the rookie finished in 10th with a time of 10:49.91. In the high jump, junior Jackie Jones earned team points after finishing tied for sixth with a distance of 1.52m.
For the men, Livingston was the star of the afternoon after edging Bridgewater State's Brian Espinosa in the long jump. The Billerica, Mass., native won the event by two hundredths of a meter (6.65m). Meanwhile, junior Anthony Baccini (Billerica, Mass.) helped the Warriors earn team points with his eighth-place finish in the triple jump (12.63m).
Graduate student Ethan Weaver (Brooklyn, Conn.) just missed out on a podium finish, placing fourth in the 400m dash with a time of 51.15. Sophomore Sherif Ali (Cliffside Park, N.J.) led the Warriors in the mile run with a time of 4:26.78, while rookie Aaron Maurais (Hopedale, Mass.) placed sixth in the 3000m run with a time of 9:01.34 to help earn team points.
Finally, the men's 'A' relay team picked up a seventh-place finish in the 4x200m relay. The quartet was comprised of senior Julio Arzu (Lynn, Mass.), sophomore Mike Kelley (Stoneham, Mass.), freshman Austin Brewster (Peabody, Mass.), and senior Artis Holt (Baltimore, Md.), who altogether ran to a cumulative time of 1:37.56.
Merrimack returns to action next Saturday, Feb. 9, to compete in the Boston University Valentine Invitational.
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