SELINSGROVE, PA - The Susquehanna University men's track and field team boasted a good share of personal bests and top times to win several events and pump their numbers in their first meet of 2026 Saturday hosting the River Hawk Invite. 

HOW IT WENT DOWN

• Derick Blair notched another individual victory with his dominant run in the mile, winning with a career-best time of 4:24.33. Thomas McGann finished third at 4:36.13 and Hunter Valentino fourth at 4:43.62.
• One familiar name in the throws made his mark as senior Cole Goodwin won the shot put with his sixth and final throw going for a new PR of 15.42m. He also finished sixth in the weight throw at 14.60m, while throwing newcomer Kieran Hennessy put his name on the radar placing fourth in the weight at 14.65m. 
• The straightaway featured familiar names doing familiar things as Calder El Bachir Diakite won the 60-meter hurdles with a finals time of 8.37 after qualiftying with the best prelim time at 8.38. Fellow hurdling phenom Carter Smink was second with a finals time of 8.45 after notching the second-fastest prelim time at 8.42. 
• More track wins followed as Mason Winslow took the 400 meters with a time of 50.86, while Henry Notarfrancesco placed second at 51.72. 
• Susquehanna's last win on the track came in the 4x400 with the team of Calder Diakite, Aidan Diglio, Rowan Smith, and Mason Winslow posting a time of 3:31.16. Fellow River Hawks foursome Liam Messina, Aaron Kolosowsky, Dominic Santos, and Carter Smink placed fourth at 3:35.59. 
• Dominic Santos posted an impressive prelim time in the 60-meter dash at 7.04, just .02 seconds off the AARTFC qualifying mark. His finals time of 7.15 earned him seventh.
• Gabe LaGrossa and Eli Book took to the long jump to start the day off, with LaGrossa finishing sixth with a PR of 6.43m and Book eighth with a PR of 6.24m. LaGrossa also PR'd in the triple jump at 11.81m. 
• In the pole vault a new face for Susquehana, Hayden Durst, earned the team's best finish in the event clearing 4.00m. Junior Seth Taub earned sixth in his season debut at 3.85m. 
• Multi athlete Rowan Smith used his time Saturday in one of his specialties, the high jump, finishing fifth overall at 1.83m after clearing his third try. 
• Aidan Diglio took fourth in the 800 meters with a time of 2:08.77, while newcomer Andrew Hilke took eighth place at 2:09.55.

UP NEXT FOR THE RIVER HAWKS

• The next two weekends sends the River Hawks to Upstate New York for what has become an annual two-week pilgrimage to Western New York. It begins next Saturday, Jan. 24 at Houghton, followed by the Ithaca Bomber Invite Jan. 30 to Feb. 1.