Results

BOSTON, Mass. - Four-time defending champion Rhode Island is in a battle at the top of the standings after the first day of the 2026 New England Indoor Track and Field Championships.

A 1-2 finish in the long jump by Joachim Ennoo and Nathan Shultz gave the Rams two medals in the same event. Ennoo had a winning distance of 7.56 meters (24 feet, 9.75 inches) and Shultz leaped 7.25 meters. The pair combined for 18 points, Rhody's best showing in any event Friday.

Rhode Island scored 16 points in the pole vault, thanks to claiming three of the top five spots. Carson Dean earned a silver medal and seven points by clearing 4.67 meters (15 feet, 3.75 inches). Nathan Park was fourth (4.52 meters) and scored five points, while Tyler Grabinski (4.52 meters) grabbed four points with a fifth-place finish.

After Day One, Rhode Island has 39 team points, good for second place in the 13-team standings. New Hampshire is one point ahead of the Rams. There is a solid gap from there, with Sacred Heart (24), Fitchburg State (14) and Central Connecticut State (14) rounding out the top five.

Highlights from Competition

• Carson Dean earned a silver medal in the pole vault to lead a contingent of three Rams scoring in the event. Dean's height of 4.67 meters tied him with Southern Maine's Dylan Courtney and provided seven team points.
• Also scoring in the pole vault were Nathan Park (fourth place, 4.52 meter) and Tyler Grabinski (fifth place, 4.52 meters). They added nine more points to URI's total.
• Matthew Lucas scored three team points with his sixth-place finish in the 5000-meter run. He finished in a time of 14:51.93. Paulino Guevara Matao won the event with a time of 14:27.90.
• Nathan Field provided two points with a seventh-place finish in the shot put. He had a throw of 16.93 meters (55 feet, 8.5 inches). New Hampshire scored 23 points by taking first (Calen Zalenski), second (Liam McGovern) and fourth place (Jack Washam).
• Rhody put two runners into the finals of the 800-meter run. Adam Melnick posted the fastest qualifying time in the prelims (1:53.56) and Jaden Enis grabbed the eighth and final spot with a time of 1:54.79.
• Jeremy Roe was the fastest qualifier in the 1000-meter run, finishing in 2:29.51.
• Elias Sposato advanced to the finals of the 500-meter dash with a time of 1:04.24, the second fastest time in the prelims.

Saturday Events

• In addition to the finals of the preliminaries held Friday, there will be 11 more prelims, three field events and the heptathlon decided on the final day of the New England Championships.
• The remaining races are the 60-meter hurdles; 60-meter dash; 1-mile run; 400-meter dash; 500-meter dash; 800-meter run; 1,000-meter run; 200-meter dash, 3,000-meter run, 4x800-meter relay and the 4x400-meter relay.
• Saturday's field events include the shot put, triple jump and high jump.

Team Standings (Day One)
1. New Hampshire - 40
2. Rhode Island - 39
3. Sacred Heart - 24
t4. Fitchburg State - 14
t4. Central Connecticut State - 14
6. Stonehill - 6
7. New Haven - 11
8. Vermont - 9
9. Southern Maine - 7
t10. Bryant - 5
t10. Franklin Pierce - 5
12. UMass Lowell - 4
13. Merrimack - 1

Up Next
Rhode Island is back in action on the second day of the New England Indoor Track and Field Championship on Saturday, March 7.