NEW ORLEANS – Mideast All-Region honors were awarded to 13 members of the Amherst College men's track and field team, including four Mammoths who posted the top performances in the region during the indoor season.
The U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) awards All-Region honors to the top five individuals in each event from each region, as well as each member of the region's top three relay teams over the course of the indoor season prior to the NCAA Championships. The Mideast Region consists of 22 institutions in western Massachusetts, eastern New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island and Vermont. Times achieved on flat tracks are converted to banked-track times.
Junior
Kolya Markov-Riss, sophomores
Camden Heafitz and
Yeob Kim and first-year
Jordan Harrison each posted top regional performances. Senior
Kelechi Eziri, juniors
Ian Dopp,
Gabe dos Santos and
Adrian Friedman, sophomores
Jack O'Hara and
Tom Ye, and first-years
Henry Dennen,
Cody Pierce and
Charlie Spurrell also earned All-Region honors.
Markov-Riss posted the top regional performance in the 800m and was part of All-Region relay performances in both the 4x400m relay and the distance medley relay. The Providence, Rhode Island, native ran the 800m in 1:51.81 on Feb. 10 at Boston University's Hemery Valentine Invitational, a mark that earned him a berth in the NCAA Division III Indoor Championships.
In his first season competing in the long jump collegiately, Kim posted the top regional performance with a leap of 7.06m at the New England Division III Championships on Feb. 24, the first All-Region honor for the Seoul, South Korea, native.
Harrison posted the top regional performance in the 60m dash in his debut collegiate season. The Solon, Ohio, native clocked a time of 6.91 seconds at the Tufts National Qualifying Meet on March 4.
Heafitz set the bar high, tying for the top regional mark of 2.01m in the high jump at the Middlebury Winter Classic on Jan. 20. This is the second straight indoor All-Region award for the Marblehead, Massachusetts, native, who also posted the top regional performance in the outdoor season last spring.
Two Amherst relay teams earned All-Region distinction. Ye, Dopp, O'Hara and Markov-Riss ran the 4x400m relay in 3:25.58 on the flat track at the Tufts Cupid Challenge on Feb. 4, which converts to a banked-track time of 3:22.36.
Markov-Riss, Pierce, O'Hara and Dennen teamed to post an All-Region time in the distance medley relay with a mark of 10:00.17 on the flat track at the Tufts National Qualifying Meet, which converts to a banked-track time of 9:52.13.
Eziri posted All-Region marks in both the triple jump and the long jump. The Charlotte, North Carolina, native posted a mark of 13.83m at the New England Division III Championships, the second-best mark in the region. Eziri previously earned All-Region accolades in the triple jump both indoors and outdoors last year and added his first All-Region performance in the long jump this season with a leap of 6.70m at the Springfield College Triangle Classic on Feb. 18.
Friedman also garnered All-Region accolades in the long jump with a personal-best mark of 6.75m at the New England Division III Championships to rank third in the region. It was the first career All-Region honor for the Falmouth, Maine, native.
Spurrell was second in the region in the weight throw in his debut collegiate season. The Cranston, Rhode Island, native registered a throw of 17.19m at the Tufts Cupid Challenge.
After earning All-Region honors outdoors last spring, dos Santos was again among the top high jumpers in the region. The Dudley, Massachusetts, native cleared 1.97m at the New England Division III Championships to post the third-best mark in the region and earn his first All-Region award.
Markov-Riss will be competing for a national title in the 800m at the NCAA Division III Indoor Championships beginning Friday (March 10) in Birmingham, Alabama. The rest of the Mammoths begin outdoor season on April 1 in the Black & Gold Invitational at Bryant University.
# converted to flat track
