Warsame Leaps Past Competition at Dartmouth December Invite

WESTFIELD, Mass. – Westfield State junior Ali Warsame (Chelsea, Mass.) leaped to first place marks in both the long jump and triple jump as men's track and field competed at the Dartmouth December Invite from Hanover, N.H. on Saturday afternoon.

Warsame notched a New England Division III provisional mark of 6.54m on his third attempt in the long jump and on his final attempt in the triple jump he totaled a mark of 13.67m to soar up to first place. The leap served as an auto mark for NED3. Michael Pelletier (Wilbraham, Mass.) earned a top three placement in the long jump with a mark of 6.21m.

First-year athlete Owen Klatka (Pittsfield, Mass.) also added an individual event victory for the Owls, finishing atop a three-way tie in the high jump by clearing the bar in 1.80m on his first try. Devan Cerone (Southwick, Mass.) also leaped over the 1.80m bar on his third and final try, placing third in the event. Klatka won the tiebreaker over Oliver Herrick of RPI by clearing the 1.75m bar on his first attempt while also taking Herrick three tries to complete the 1.75m effort.

The Owls had a multitude of top three finishes on the track with Nate Sylven (Wrentham, Mass.) placing second in the 3000 with a time of 9:24.64. Braedan Ramsey (Plainville, Conn.) followed in third with a time of 9:52.26.

Rowan Gottshall (Simsbury, Conn.) and Lorcan Bergeron (Medway, Mass.) both finished third in their respective events with Gottshall crossing the tape with a time of 1:09.35 in the 500 while Bergeron checked in with a personal record time at 2:44.40 in the 1000.

Several Owls teammates placed behind Gottshall and Bergeron. JJ Tauscher (Easthampton, Mass.) and Gordon Johnson (Hanson, Mass.) finished fourth and fifth in the 500 and Drew Organ (Suffield, Conn.) and Reid Sunshine (Suffield, Conn.) were fourth and fifth in the 1000. Sunshine's time of 2:48.60 was a new personal best time.

Jordan Stallworth (Springfield, Mass.) had a terrific day in short distance events, placing top five in the 60m dash with a PR time of 7.236. He also earned seventh in a deep 300 field with a time of 36.81.

Other notable performances came from Micah Scott (Uxbridge, Mass.) who earned a personal best 12.59m hurl in the shot put; Eric Lu who hustled to the tape in 39.72 in the 300 for a PR; and Rodrigo Miranda (West Springfield, Mass.) who registered a personal record in the 3000 with a time of 10:03.15.

Westfield State will be back in action in the year 2026 as the Owls participate in the Coast Guard Winter Invite #1 on Saturday, January 17 from New London, Conn.