Men’s Track & Field Championship Recap
Following their fourth straight Atlantic 10 title, for the first time in program history, the University of Rhode Island men’s track and field has won all three championships in a single indoor season.
URI won their 30th A-10 title back on Feb. 24 and just a week later, the Rams completed a sweep of the indoor Championship season. The first of the two was the New England Championship, where the Rams won with a score of 121 points. It was the Rams’ second straight indoor New England title and their 27th total. The Rams also won the Intercollegiate Association of Amateur Athletes of America, also known as the IC4A. It was the first time in program history the Rams won the meet.
Between the two meets, the Rams won 10 events and reached the podium a total of 20 times, including their victories. The Rams were able to achieve this feat despite both meets occurring at the same time. They did it thanks to strategic maneuvers made by the coaching staff and the short nine-minute drive between the meets.
“We spent many hours trying to figure out where each coach was going to be and who was going to drive who,” URI Head Coach Trent Baltzell said. “For the runners, we basically choose one meet or another and for the field athletes, we tried to maximize their point capabilities without overworking them.”
While no athlete won at both meets, a few of them were able to reach the podium in each. One athlete who did was fourth-year Matt Santy. A week before these meets, Santy won the high jump at A-10 Championships and set a new personal best. In the long jump this weekend, Santy leaped 24’ 3.5’’ which won him the event, and was the second best jump in Rams history. Santy also won the high jump clearing 6’ 5’’. Both of those wins were at the New England Championship; at the IC4A, where Santy would also place third in the high jump clearing 6’ 8’’.
“This means a lot, Coach Trent puts us through the ringer sometimes with hard workouts week after week,” Santy said. “To finally see all of that work come to fruition and come together as a team and continue to build on this culture means a lot.”
Throughout the course of any track and field season, the team will face many injuries. Players will be limited in practice and unable to perform to the best of their abilities according to Baltzell. Yet, around this time every season, Baltzell said he will have his athletes feeling their best and it has led to their consistent success during championship season.
“Every year, championship weekend comes around and somehow he has us feeling healthy and feeling like we’re in the best shape of our lives,” Santy said. “He knows when we’re going to peak, have our best performances and he always gets it to land on the right weekend. I don’t know how he does it, it’s like a magic trick he just has.”
Baltzell has been the Rams’ head coach for almost three full years now and has won seven indoor championships.
“The experience of our coaching staff of knowing how to communicate with our guys throughout the season about dealing with those minor injuries,” Baltzell said. “We put no pressure on the guys to compete at their highest level at any time until championship season begins and that mindset helps them peak when we’re asking them to.”
Some of the other key performances for the Rams include fifth-year Colin Ochs, who broke the school record in the 800 meter. Ochs had a time of 1:48.46 minutes at the IC4A, and that time won him the event. Ochs is a much needed veteran on this team according to Baltzell. Ochs has set a top 10 school time eight different times in his career. He now holds the top three times for the 800-meter and originally broke the record back in February of 2022 when he broke Butch Brown’s time of 1:49.68 minutes, Brown’s record stood for 39 years before Ochs broke it three times.
Other IC4A winners include third-year Ryan Tona winning the heptathlon with 5,460 total points, the third-best score in program history. Fourth-year Chris Tavarone also won in the field with a 55’ 4.75’’ toss in the shot put. Tavarone would also place second in the New England Championship shot put with an even better toss of 55’ 11.75’’. Fourth-year Tristen Howard won the 60 meter with a time of 6.78 seconds, marking the first time a Ram has won this event at the IC4A. The Rams had six others reach the podium and fifth-year Ben Fleichser set another school record with a time of 8:00.19 in the 3000 meter.
Down the block, the Rams won six events at the New England Championship. Fourth-year Kai Schmidt-Bilowith won the 60 meter hurdle, matching his personal best with a time of 8.03 seconds. Fifth-year Orion Joyner won in the triple jump with a mark of 47’ 7’. Second-year Antonio Capalbo and fourth-year Alexander Baez both won their first New England Championship crowns. Baez won in the weight throw with a toss of 60’ 8’’and Capalbo won the 1000 meter with a time of 2:26.16 minutes.
Three other Rams reached the podium at the New England Championship. Third-year Israel Henriques-Setho finished third in the long jump with a jump of 23’ 1.75’’. Third-year pole vaulter Mason Brubaker cleared 15’ 9.75’’ for third place as well. Right behind Santy in the high jump was third-year John Santos, who cleared 6’ 5’’ for the second place spot.
All of these individual efforts notched the Rams their first ever sweep of the championship season. A couple of Rams will have to wait and see if they’ll qualify for the National College Athletic Association Championship and in order to do so they must rank top 16 nationally in their event. The other Rams will prepare for the start of the outdoor season. The outdoor season will begin March 29 in Smithfield, Rhode Island at the Bryant Black & Gold Invitational.