On Saturday, the University of Rhode Island men’s track and field team split into two groups and competed at the 37th Brown Alden Invitational and the Boston University Season Opener.
At the Brown Alden Invitational, they placed second of six with a score of 152 points, two points behind Brown University and 79.5 points ahead of third place College of the Holy Cross. The Rams were able to double the score of third place Holy Cross by winning in five different events. Some of the winners include fourth-year Lucas Plaia in the 500 meter with a time of 1:05.03 minutes, third-year Mason Brubaker in the pole vault after clearing 4.60 meters and second-year Alex Baez in the weight throw with a mark of 19.60 meters. The Rams also managed to send multiple athletes to the podium in four different events, including a complete sweep in the shot put.
In the shot put, third-year Christopher Taravone took home first place with a throw of 16.53 meters. In was second place first-year Theo Puterbaugh with a throw of 16.16 meters. Puterbaugh’s throw set a new first-year record for the Rams.
Puterbaugh wasn’t the only first-year Ram to break a school record – first-year Alex Arbogast ran the 60 meter in 6.89 seconds. That time placed Arobogat in second, and in third place was first-year CJ McDermott . Those three made up a group of first-year athletes that all found the podium in their first collegiate meet.
Between the meet at Brown and the BU season opener, the Rams had a number of record breaking performances; they set five new all-time top-10 marks. The highest ranking record of those new records was third-year Kai Schmidt-Bilowith’s 8.03-second mark in the 60 meter hurdles. Schmidt-Bilowith won the 60 meter hurdle at the Alden Invitational, breaking a personal best by 0.13 seconds.
Between the two meets, the Rams found the podium in all sorts of events, from throws to short sprints to long distance running. In order to defend their Atlantic 10 indoor championship for a fourth time in a row, the Rams will very likely need to do this at the A-10 championship in February. The only school to ever win four titles in a row was the Virginia Tech Hokies, now a member of the Atlantic Coastal Conference. The Hookies won from 1997 to 2000.
Members of the Rams believe that this year’s team is more well rounded than in years past.
“I think this is a polished team with a lot of top end talent and lots of depth,” said Young, a two-time A-10 indoor champion with the Rams. “It’s similar to the past couple of years but this year it’s more emphasized.”
That depth has been strengthened by a strong first-year class that has shown they are capable of making an immediate impact, according to Baltzell. Typically the track and field program relies heavily upon their fourth and fifth-year athletes to win their meets, but just one meet into this season, the results show that the Rams can expect some strong performances from their first-years.
“In general we are a senior and fifth-year heavy program, there are so many older guys that it just hasn’t given the younger guys a chance to shine,” said Baltzell. “I am confident by the end of the year that will change and those younger guys will be making an impact.”
The Rams should also benefit from the developments of their athletes who had strong seasons last year, according to Young. Young himself won seven events last indoor season and he expects that this season will be even better for him.
“I had a great year last year, I [set a personal best] in the 200 and 400 [meter] and I’m looking to keep that going,” said Young. “I want to win the 400 at the A-10s which is something I’ve never done before. I would also like to break the 46 second barrier since I broke 47 last year.”
Young has already put his name in the URI record book for his performances in 200 meter and 400 meter, but he’s never been the all-time leader in any event. If he is able to break through the 46-second mark in the 400 meter it would be the program record and the first time in program history that anyone has accomplished that.
Setting personal goals and breaking personal bests is all a part of URI’s journey to defending their A-10 title for a third straight season. In the eyes of Baltzell, this season is all about taking care of business and being in the best possible position when the championship season arrives in late February.
“For the most part this indoor season is kind of like a business season for us,” said Baltzell. “We’re in here just trying to take care of business and we’ll end up having a lot more fun during championship season.”
This season’s championship season is the key to a lot of potential records for the Rams. The Rams have never won back to back New England Championships. Winning a fourth straight A-10 title wouldn’t just be a program record but it would tie an A-10 record and set the Rams up for a potential conference record fifth in a row.
The Rams next meet is the URI Heptathlon, hosted at the Mackal Field House this Thursday and Friday.