NEWTON, Mass. (1/17/16) – The Lasell College men's and women's track and field teams opened the New Year at the Tufts Invitational on Saturday afternoon at the Gantcher Center in Medford, Mass.

Six Lasers competed in the meet on the men's side, while senior Jaime Russo (Watertown, Mass.) represented Lasell on the women's side. Russo ran her first 1,000m race of the 2015-16 season, and clocked in at 3:38.88.

Sophomore Josh Nixon (Bloomfield, Conn.) finished the 60m dash in 7.64 seconds, a consistent finish from his previous time of 7.61 seconds at the Jay Carisella Invite last month. Nixon also debuted his performance in the jump pit for the season, reaching 5.61m in the long jump. Joining Nixon on the sprinters spectrum was freshman Ben Lane, who finished the 200m dash in 25.02 seconds.

Sophomore Troy Gonsalves (Providence, R.I.) set a personal record in the mile run with a final time of 5:07.96, shaving 4.90 seconds off his previous marker.

Senior Jeremy Shriber (Central Valley, N.Y.) took on the 3,000m race for the first time as a Laser, and

Sophomore Nick Garifalos (Spotswood, N.J.) and freshman Ryan Dalaba (North Granville, N.Y.) ran the 3,000m race for the first time as a Laser, and crossed the finish line at 10:03.41 and 10:10.96, respectively. Sophomore Nick Garifalos (Spotswood, N.J.) rounded out the meet in the 1,000m race at 2:52.47.

Both teams will return to action on Saturday, January 23 for the Smith Invitational in Northampton, Mass.