The men’s track and field team continued their early success in the season with another impressive performance at the Bill Butler Invitational, held at West Chester University. The team had two athletes take home NJAC Athlete of the Week honors: seniors Francis Terry and Earnest Daniel.
Terry won Track Athlete of the Week after being a member of the 4×400 team that took home first with recorded a time of 3:15.86, which is ranked second in Division III. Terry also finished second in the 400 meter dash with a time of 49.10, which ranks second in the conference.
Daniel won Field Athlete of the Week after winning the high jump with a mark of 2.00 meters, which is tied for best in the conference and tied for 10th in Division III. He also placed second in the triple jump with a mark of 13.52 meters, which ranks fourth in the conference.
When asked about the team’s performance as a whole, coach Dustin Dimit had positive remarks.
“We’re seeing a lot of consistency with a lot of the events, so far the guys have started off really well and continue to improve at practice and continue to put in the work,” Dimit said. “They’re making the important first steps towards the bigger goals and we are hoping for some breakthrough performances, but they’ve been doing great so far.”
Dimit also discussed what needs to be done for the team to continue the successful start.
“Continuing to put in the work at practice and experience competition at meets, along with trusting the process, will keep the good performances going and hopefully get us to reach our peak at the right time,” he said.
Dimit remarked on how it felt to see Terry compete and win Track Athlete of the Week honors — he said it was great to see him competing again, and not just for himself but for the team.
“Francis is still improving weekly and continuing to shake off the rust but is beginning to look a little more like himself,” Dimit said. “Especially now that he is fully practicing and getting more comfortable running hard and competing.”
Junior Hunter Barbieri also spoke about Terry winning NJAC Track Athlete of the Week.
“Francis and I have always been really close, because we knew each other from playing soccer in high school,” Barbieri said. “So seeing him back on the track and getting recognized by the conference is really exciting for me and the whole team.”
Barbieri said it felt great having three meets finished now.
“Feels great to be running outdoor for the first time since freshman year,” Barbieri said. “The first meet I was disappointed in myself because I want to do well for the team and not only myself, so I took it pretty hard. But I made sure that the next week I was going to be better and after this past week, I’m realizing that all the work I’m doing is finally coming around and I’m proud of everyone for continuing to work hard.”
Barbieri also noted the team’s bond.
“Building a bond early on in the year really helped the team become close, even off the track, because we all wanted to make sure we were doing the right things and keeping each other responsible,” Barbieri said. “We’re all just having a good time out here and usually when you have a good time you run fast.”
The team will compete again this Saturday at 10 a.m. hosting the Bill Fritz Invitational.
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