Mike Vatti
Mike Vatti

Vatti Wins 200 Meters; Bentley Finishes 5th of 7 in AIC Invitational

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. -- Junior Mike Vatti (Easton, Pa./Easton Area HS) captured the 200 meters, topping the list of performances for the Bentley University men's outdoor track team during the first-ever American International College Yellow Jacket Invitational Saturday.

Vatti finished the 200 in 22.53 seconds, besting runner-up Herb Woodard of Assumption by 0.14 seconds and 26 other runners in the event. Bentley freshman Eric Kennedy (West Hartford, Conn./ Northwest Catholic HS) was third in 22.70.

               Vatti and Kennedy accounted for nearly half of Bentley's 60 points in the meet. In the 100 meters, Kennedy was fifth of 20 in 11.18 seconds and Vatti was eighth in 11.40. They also combined with sophomore Derek Sit (Wellesley/Wellesley HS) and senior David Kusmin (Westwood/Westwood HS) for third place in the 4x100 meter relay (44.30).

Kusmin had Bentley's highest finish in any of the field events as he was second of six in the triple jump, with a distance of 42 feet, one-half inch.

Junior Steven Long (Allston/Newton North HS) scored in both the shot put and the discus. He was third of 14 in the shot with a throw of 42 feet, 0.75 inches, and was ninth of 20 in the discus (117'3"). Senior Marcus Chang (West Newton/Newton North HS) took eighth in the shot after a distance of 36 feet, 8.5 inches.

In the 5000 meters, sophomore John Drago (Avon, Conn./Avon HS) finished fifth of 18 in 15:40.64. Junior Dan Fava (Malden/Malden Catholic HS) and junior Andy Gauthier (Dracut/Central Catholic HS) were sixth and seventh, respectively, in the 400 as they posted times of 51.76 and 53.19.

The University of Massachusetts took the team title by 13.5 points over the host team, 175-161.5. The College of the Holy Cross was third with 92.5 points, and The College of Saint Rose finished one point ahead of Bentley in the battle for fourth. Amherst College and Assumption College completed the field.

Bentley's next meet is the George Davis Invitational at UMass-Lowell next Saturday.