McSolla Wins Mile to Help Kick Off Indoor Track's Season

BOSTON, Mass. – Dan McSolla (Bridgewater, Mass.) opened his senior indoor track campaign in style as he won the mile with a time of 4:24.52 to help Wentworth Institute of Technology open the 2017-2018 season at the Sixth Annual UMass Boston Invitational.

McSolla, who captured All-America honors in this event during the Leopards' inaugural season a year ago, finished ahead of the pack in a field of 47 runners. In his section, he bested his closest competitor by 1.22 seconds.

Freshman Nick Massauro (Ashland, Mass.) and sophomore Zachary Shelton (North Attleboro, Mass.) each made their collegiate debuts in the shot put. Massauro finished 45th with a throw of 9.71 meters (31 feet, 10.25 inches) and Shelton was 57th (7.81 meters; 25 feet, 7.5 inches).

The Leopards had a pair of entries in the 5,000-meter run as senior Patrick Hopkins (Lansdale, Pa.) and junior Nathan Ouellette (Wells, Maine) each ran. Hopkins finished 12th in his section with a time of 15:44.29 while Ouellette was 21st in his section, crossing the line in 18:02.16. These times were good for 12th and 36th place, respectively.

In the 60-meter dash, senior Jake Skurja (Stratford, Conn.) and sophomore Dan Padula (Hanover, Mass.) both ran in the fourth preliminary heat. Skurja was second in the heat (7.29) and Padula was eighth (7.52).

McSolla was one of four Wentworth entries in the mile as he was joined by sophomore Tom Caruso (Mahopac, N.Y.) and freshmen Will Allen (West Hartford, Conn.) and Wes Brimeyer (Dubuque, Iowa). Caruso finished 17th overall with a personal best time of 4:45.40 while Allen was 24th (4:56.78) and Brimeyer was 36th (5:13.15).

Freshman Abderrahman Boukaa (Casablanca, Morocco) placed second in his heat in the 400-meter dash with a time of 58.27, which was good for 48th overall. In the 500-meter run, freshman Alexis Umana (Revere, Mass.) was 18th after crossing the line in a time of 1:15.58.

In the 800-meter run, junior Chris Kaberle (Pelham, N.H.) ran a personal best of 2:09.89 to finish 18th after this time placed seventh in his section. Freshman Tyler Cosma (Center Moriches, N.Y.) competed in the 1,000-meter run and placed eighth with a time of 2:45.64.

Skurja and Padula both ran in the 200-meter dash, a race which had a crowded field of 136 runners in it. Skurja's time of 23.89 placed him 37th while Padula's 24.34 was 59th.

Finishing fourth in his section, freshman Anthony Maida (Peabody, Mass.) was 18th overall in the 3,000-meter run with a time of 9:55.28.

Wentworth had a pair of entries in the 4x400 relay. McSolla, Skurja, Kaberle, and Umana placed 13th with a time of 3:39.43 while Boukaa, Cosma, Caruso, and Allen were 20th with a time of 3:49.28.

Senior Alex Robbins (Mansfield, Mass.) also competed on Saturday, running at the Boston University Season Opener. Fresh off his appearance at the NCAA Division III Men's Cross Country Championships, he competed in the 5,000-meter run, placing 25th with a time of 14:53.11, which was a personal best.

The Leopards are idle until competing in the USM Open on January 6.

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