HOOKSET, N.H. – Freshman Dylan Courtney (Hampden, Maine/Hampden Academy) placed first in the pole vault on Thursday at the Southern New Hampshire University Spring Open with a mark of 4.25m in the first meet of the season for the University of Southern Maine Huskies' men's track & field team. Senior Jon Dalessandro (Westbrook, Maine) placed third at 3.25m.
 
The Huskies' 4x400 relay team of sophomore Elijah DiRisi (Saco, Maine/Thornton Academy), senior Nate Brown (Palo Alto, Cali.), freshman Harry Dunne (Hollis Center, Maine/Bonny Eagle) and Dalessandro also had a top five finish as they placed second in their event with a time of 3:33.22.
 
Freshman Tyler Bryant (South Portland, Maine) had a pair of top five finishes by placing third in the high jump with a mark of 1.85m and fourth in the javelin with a throw of 44.99m. Sophomore Trevor Amos (New Gloucester, Maine/Gray-New Gloucester) also had a strong showing in the field events by placing fifth in the shot put (13.26m), seventh in the hammer (41.46m) and eighth in the discus (35.50m). He ranked third in the prelim stage of the hammer with a personal-best throw of 43.34m to move into second on the program's all-time leaderboard. His shot put mark is also a personal-best and puts him sixth on the program leaderboard.
 
Elsewhere, seniors Michael D'Amico (Belgrade Lakes, Maine/Messalonskee) and Christian Burke (York, Maine) competed on the first day of the decathlon at the Emory Thrills in the Hills Invitational in Atlanta, Ga. D'Amico will enter the second day in sixth place with 3,097 points. Burke is currently in eighth place with 3,071 points. The high jump was the best event for each athlete on day one with Burke placing fourth and D'Amico placing fifth after they both cleared 1.86m.
 
 
Track Event Highlights:  

• Freshman Conner Smith (Durham, Maine/Freeport) placed sixth in the 1500 meters with a time of 4:11.16.
• Freshman Camden Cyr (Kittery, Maine/Traip Academy) placed eighth in the unseeded section of the 5000 meters with a time of 17:06.26.
• Freshman Brady Edwards (South Portland, Maine) placed ninth in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 1:06.21 and 10th in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 18.35 seconds.
• Dunne placed 14th in the 1500 meters with a time of 4:23.29.

 
Field Event Highlights:

• Sophomore Matt Reynolds (Winslow, Maine) placed eighth in the javelin with a mark of 39.21m and finished 13th in the shot put with a throw of 10.35m.

Up Next:
The Huskies will have a group of athletes competing tomorrow and Saturday at the Emory Thrills in the Hills Invitational in Atlanta, Ga.