NEW LONDON, Conn. – Seven top-three performances, including a victory by junior Holt Sihvonen (Lebanon, Conn./Lyman Memorial HS) in the javelin, sparked the Bentley University men's track and field team to second place in the Silfen Invitational which concluded Saturday at Connecticut College.

Bentley totaled 96 points and trailed only Franklin Pierce University (181) in the 17-team meet that started Friday night.

Sihvonen and sophomore Anthony Giesing (Bradford, Vt./Oxbow HS) went 1-2 in the javelin with Sihvonen, who owns the sixth best throw in Division II so far this season, making a throw of 206 feet, three inches. That bettered his teammate by more than 40 feet with Giesing turning in a 164'7".

Sticking with the field events, junior Beau Kraft (Bayport, N.Y./Bayport-Blue Point HS) had his best day of the season as he moved to fifth on the Northeast-10 Conference performance list in both the shot put (44'4") and discus (126'9"). Kraft was second of 31 in the former and fourth of 30 in the discus. Also in the discus, junior David Hernandez (Tokyo, Japan) (113'3") and freshman JT Brine (Blue Point, N.Y./Bayport-Blue Point HS) were sixth and eighth, respectively.

Freshman Alex Arnold (Saco, Maine/Thornton Academy) moved to tenth on the NE10 performance list and achieved a new personal best by clearing 20'10.75" in the long jump. He was third of 22 with Hernandez right behind him in fourth (20'2.5"). Arnold was also fourth in the 100 meters, his 11.37 second time a PR by 0.33 seconds.

Seniors Tim Bolick (Hopkinton, Mass./Hopkinton HS) and Erik Alatalo (Wilmington, Mass./ Wilmington HS) achieved thirds in running events, as did freshman Josh Gettings (Lowell, Mass./ Lowell HS).

Bolick set a new PR in the 1500 with his 3:55.60 improving on his previous best by 3.04 seconds and moving him to seventh on the program's all-time list. It also lifted him to third in the NE10 this season.  Also in the 1500, senior Nik Haas (Ramsey, N.J./Ramsey HS) was eighth with his 3:58.56 seventh best in the conference.

Alatalo ran Bentley's fastest 10,000 since 2012 with his 31:50.48 a PR by 5.60 seconds. It's the third fastest in the NE10 this spring and eighth best in program history.

Gettings moved to second on Bentley's all-time list in the 400 hurdles with his time of 56.66 the best by a Falcon since 1980. It also elevated him to fourth on the conference's performance list. Gettings and Stoffel also helped Bentley finish fourth in the 4x400 (3:32.49).

Junior Nick Skarin (Sunapee, N.H/Sunapee HS) ran the 800 to 1:55.85, finishing fifth among 54 competitors. In the 200, senior David Stoffel (Luxembourg), with a time of 23.44 seconds, was sixth of 45.

This coming weekend, Bentley will compete in the UC San Diego Triton Invitational and the Sean Collier Invitational at MIT.