BOSTON, Mass. — The River Hawks men's track and field team kicked off the new year with the 2025 Suffolk Relays at the TRACK at new balance in Boston, Mass.

"Good first meet back," mentioned Head Coach Gary Gardner. "We came out healthy and competed well. Really looking forward to the next few weeks."

The running events commenced the day, with the 5,000-meter run first up. Junior Nathanael Fondakowski (Pelham, N.H.) crossed the line in third-place at a mark of 15:18.23. Moving onto the 60m hurdles prelim, three River Hawks advanced to the final heat with junior Tristan O'Riorden leading the way with a time of 8.61 for third. Sophomores Nidlaire Olivier (Lowell, Mass.) and Brandon Riley (Weymouth, Mass.) finished less than a tenth of a second away from each other with Olivier in seventh (8.653) and Riley (8.657) taking eighth. Junior Derek Munroe (Tewksbury, Mass.) also ran in the 60m hurdles prelim.

By his lone, Olivier led the way for the River Hawks in the 60m hurdles coming in fourth-place with a time of 8.58. 

Next came the 60m dash prelims, with sophomore Evan Imasogie (Lowell, Mass.) cruising his way to third-place at 6.93. Two more runners with a top 8 finish included graduate student Aras Kaya taking seventh (Winchester, Mass.) (7.00) and sophomore Daniel Kennedy (Tolland, Conn.) following in eighth (7.02). Freshman Michael Gyimah (Kumasi, Ghana), sophomores Kuzey Kaya (Winchester, Mass.), Shane Exilhomme (Orlando, Fla.), Anthony Massari (Dumont, N.J.),  junior Brett Earle (Baldwinville, Mass.), and senior Ben Ayotte (Salisbury, Mass.) all ran in the 60m dash prelims as well.

Missing by a tenth of a second, Imasogie would finish in second-place in the men's 60m dash at a mark of 6.88. Following behind was Aras Kaya coming in at a time of 7.00 for sixth-place.

The one mile run was swarmed with six River Hawks in the top 10 runners, with graduate student Joseph Young (Dorchester, Mass.) leading the pack in first-place at a time of 4:15.90. Graduate student Hunter Marion (Templeton, Mass.) would follow in second at a 4:18.15 mark. Senior Joseph Curran (Nashua, N.H.) took fourth-place at 4:19.56, while graduate student Henry Farrington (Essex Junction, Vt.) came in fifth at 4:20.10 and freshman Devin Moreau (Tyngsboro, Mass.) earned a sixth-place finish at a time of 4:20.58. Freshman Anthony Verdi (Frederick, Md.) would be the last River Hawk to inch into the top 10, finishing in ninth-place with a time of 4:21.66. Sophomore David McKinnon (Bloomsbury, N.J.) (13th, 4:23.73), freshman Sean Kerin (Walpole, Mass.) (19th, 4:25.59) and sophomore Timothy Walsh (Auburn, Mass.) (22nd, 4:27.30) all stayed attached, finishing in the top 25. Also participating in the one mile run were sophomore Pedro Mayol (Lincoln, R.I.), senior TJ Glowik (Danvers, Mass.), freshman Tyler Young (Marion, Mass.), sophomore Keegan Tierney (East Greenwich, R.I.), freshman Jack Courtney, sophomore Nicolas Uzzo (East Bridgewater, Mass.), sophomore Dean Allen (Chelmsford, Mass.), sophomore Seyha Rath (Lowell, Mass.) and freshman Noah Gomes D'Sa (Attleboro, Mass.). 

Earle took home ninth in the 400-meter run at a time of 51.33, with freshman Liam O'Keefe (Trumbull, Conn.) next in line for the River Hawks in 25th at 53.56. Junior Basit Iddriss (Milford, Mass.) took the overall heat in the 500-meter run, finishing in first-place with a time of 1:05.11. The 800-meter run proceeded with yet another River Hawk taking first-place from freshman Gabriel Sisk (West Hartford, Conn.) at a time of 1:56.90. Senior Sean Riley (Wilmington, Mass.) would finish in third-place at 1:58.39, with graduate student Tanner Jellison (Wakefield, Mass.) attached, finishing at a time of 1:58.96 for sixth. 

Shy by a quarter of a second, junior Sean Kennedy-Wonneberger (East Haddam, Conn.) ultimately took home second-place in the 1000-meter run at a time of 2:27.05, leading UMass Lowell. Senior Graham Stedfast (Rowley, Mass.) was just behind in a third-place finish with a time of 2:29.08 as junior Ethan Mashtare (St. Albans, Vt.) took sixth at a mark of 2:30.15. Staying connected, freshman Tyler Rothrock (Allentown, Pa.) would finish in 18th (2:36.74) next to graduate student Jake Connolly (Weymouth, Mass.) who earned 19th (2:37.99). Junior Hale Boyden (Barnet, Vt.) was the last River Hawk in the 1000-meter run to cross the line (23rd, 2:39.78).

The 200-meter run came next with Gyimah claiming ninth with a time of 22.16 for the River Hawks. Flowing behind were freshman Michael Fisher (Wallingford, Conn.) (12th, 22.37), freshman Dmitrius Shearrion (Taunton, Mass.) (15th, 22.39), Aras Kaya (17th, 22.48) as well as Kennedy (23rd, 23.79). 

Imasogie with quite the performance earned himself another second-place finish, in the 200-meter open run at a time of 22.45. Behind trailed junior Alejandro Lynch (Somerville, Mass.) who crossed the line in 12th at 22.77.  

The 3000-meter run was headlined by junior Hatim Boukhtam (Abington, Mass.) who claimed first at a time of 8:33.75. Attached were sophomore Nicholas Marcotte (Hudson, N.H.) who finished with a time of 8:41.48 in sixth-place and senior Andrew Benassi (Reading, Mass.) who crossed the line at 8:47.96 for 10th. Rounding out the River Hawks, freshman Patrick Hall (Billerica, Mass.) earned 11th finishing at 8:50.37 and freshman Dante Castellano (Nashua, N.H.) claimed 19th with a time of 8:59.36.

During the field events, Brandon Riley under control earned himself a fourth-place spot in the long jump, at a 6.97m mark. Kuzeye Kaya and Ayotte, also competed, laying down a 5.91m and 5.73m mark, taking 25th and 30th. 

Graduate student Brandon Williams (Severn, Md.) was among the top marks leaping to a third-place finish in the triple jump at a 13.67m mark.

In the pole vault, Munroe lifted his way into the top 10, taking seventh-place for a mark of 4.30m. Graduate Student Daniel Cuddy (Hudson, Mass.) would tie for 11th with a 4.15m mark. The pole vault open was led by freshman Sawyer O'Riorden (Stow, Mass.) earning first-place at a mark of 4.10m. 

The high jump followed with both freshman Camren Allian (Carver, Mass.) (9th) and Exilhomme (13th) recording a 1.85m mark for UMass Lowell.  

The last field event of the meet was the shot put where senior Ian Camerato (Mount Laurel, N.J.) took 10th with a 13.55m mark, while junior Mukanya Kazadi (Woburn, Mass.) finished with a 13.49m mark for 12th. 

Next up, the River Hawks will travel to Boston, Mass. on January 18 to compete in the Battle in Beantown at the Track and Tennis Center.