BOSTON – Senior Ben Davis and first-year Carter Bengtson each booked their places at the New England Division III Championships as the Amherst College men's track and field team opened up its NED3 indoor championship defense by competing in middle distance races at both the Track at New Balance Early Bird Invitational and the Colyear-Danville Season Opener.

The Mammoths will return to action on January 16-17 with a trip to Vermont for the Middlebury Winter Classic.

TRACK AT NEW BALANCE EARLY BIRD INVITATIONAL
The Track at New Balance – Boston

* Competing in his first track race, Bengtson posted a time of 14:43.84 in the 5000m to finish second in a field of 40 runners from both Division I and Division III, and automatically qualify for the NED3 Indoor Championships.

COLYEAR-DANVILLE SEASON OPENER
Boston University Track & Tennis Center – Boston

* Davis was the runner-up and top Division III finisher in the 600m with a time of 1:19.80 that automatically qualifies him to defend his NED3 title in the event. Sophomore Jack Stahl ran a 1:23.82 to finish 14th in his second collegiate 600m race and first-year Cole Thalheimer ran a 1:25.11 in his collegiate debut to finish 18th, both provisional qualifying marks for New Englands.

* First-years Andy Krasner and Tim Churchill each provisionally qualified for New Englands in the 800m. Krasner crossed in 1:57.11 to claim eighth place and Churchill was just behind in ninth in 1:57.23.

* Senior Will Nagy ran a personal-best mile of 4:18.62 to finish 50th with a provisional qualifying mark for New Englands.

* Senior Henry Dennen posted a provisional New England mark in the 3000m, finishing in 8:25.25 to take 92nd place.