BRIDGEWATER, Mass. – Thirds by junior Nick Skarin (Sunapee, N.H./Sunapee HS) and sophomore Dan Hergott (Wallingford, Conn./Xavier HS) were among 13 top ten finishes for the Bentley University men's outdoor track and field team, which opened its outdoor season at the Bridgewater State Invitational Saturday.

Skarin, who missed the 2016 outdoor season due to injury, shattered his previous best in the 1500 by more than 18 seconds while finishing third among 61 runners in the 1500 meters. He was clocked in 4:04.90 and was followed across the finish line by classmate Seamus Higgins (Randolph, N.J./ Randolph HS). He posted a 4:05.71, bettering his PR by 1.60 seconds.

Bentley also went 3-4 in the 5,000 with Hergott reaching the line in 15:38.39 and freshman Ben Edwards (Morristown, N.J./Morristown HS) in 15:44.19.

Junior Holt Sihvonen (Lebanon, Conn./Lyman Memorial HS) met the NCAA Division II provisional qualifying mark in the javelin while placing fourth overall among 40 competitors, and second among collegians. His throw of 200'6" came within two-and-a-quarter inches of his own school record.

Senior Erik Alatalo (Wilmington/Wilmington HS) opened his outdoor season by qualifying for the New Englands and moving to eighth on Bentley's all-time list in the 10,000. He was fourth of 33 overall, his time of 31:56.08 bettering his previous best by 23.15 seconds.

The Falcons' highest finish came in the 4x400 relay with senior David Stoffel (Luxembourg) coming with junior Ben Brayton (Middleboro/Middleboro HS), sophomore Ryan Kenney (Henrietta, N.Y./Rush-Henrietta HS) and freshman Josh Gettings (Lowell/Lowell HS) to finish second of ten in 3:34.48.

Gettings and Stoffel were fourth and fifth, respectively, in the 400 with times of 52.10 and 52.30. Stoffel's effort improved on his PR by 0.38 seconds.

Ninth-place finishes were achieved by freshman Tristan Leachman (Falmouth/Falmouth HS) in the 200 (23.50) and junior Beau Kraft (Bayport, N.Y./Bayport-Blue Point HS) in the discus (116'9"). Freshman Alex Arnold (Saco, Maine/Thornton Academy) took tenth in the 200 (23.60) as did junior David Hernandez (Tokyo, Japan) in the discus (114'0").

Bentley's season continues next Saturday with the Bryant Invitational.