COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – A record-setting performance in the 4x400-meter relay and the continuing triple jump prowess of freshman Samuel Pope highlighted the Ursinus College men's track and field team's trip to Boston for the David Hemery Valentine Invitational.
The 4x400-meter relay team of freshman Samuel Pope, sophomore Jequan Mitchell, senior Skyler McCormick, and senior Andrew Mackin shattered the school record by more than six seconds with a time of 3:20.91, easily the top mark in the Centennial Conference. Mackin's split of 49.3 was the fastest of the day.
Pope continued to add to his ever-growing triple jump legend with a leap of 46-2.75 on his first attempt, nearly a foot better than his already Centennial Conference-leading best; that mark now tops the performance list by almost four full feet and stands as the best in the league since Chris Rountree's 47-4.25 in the 2013 CC indoor championships; it currently places him 17th in Division III. Pope bested 11 Division I entrants in the event.
Pope also established a new personal best with a 21-6.25 in the long jump, moving him up one spot to fourth on the Centennial Conference performance list.
Mitchell was impressive in the 200-meter dash, where his career-best time of 22.48 was only .03 seconds off the indoor school record set in 2008 by Brandon Evans.
McCormick ran a season-best 51.94 in the 400-meter dash; he placed third in his heat, ahead of Division I runners from Marist and Providence.
Senior Nolan Davis notched a personal best in the 800 with a conference championship-qualifying time of 2:03.19; where sophomore Mitchell Kelly turned in a clocking of 2:07.19.
Freshman Andrew Voyack paced a trio of Bears with a 4:40.41 in the mile, a personal best by eight seconds. Fellow rookies Evan Cirafesi (4:41.63) and Jonny Cope (4:44.43) also posted personal bests, and volunteer assistant coach Tyler Melius ran a 4:14.58.