ANNAPOLIS, MD – The Johns Hopkins men's track & field team kicked off its 2024 outdoor season in a big way at the Navy Outdoor Invitational Saturday afternoon, breaking a program record that stood for 33 years and securing several podium finishes in a strong start to the year.
 
The day began with the field events, in which Leo Anderson and Ryan Braga opened the meet with 11^th and 12^th-place finishes in the hammer throw. Anderson finished just ahead of Braga clearing 34.69 meters, with Braga's mark of 33.36 meters bringing the sophomore in just behind his classmate.
 
The Blue Jays' first podium of the day came in the triple jump, where Ethan Oluwole finished third with a leap of 6.24 meters, with Maxie Lin (5.88 meters) and Oluwademilade Adeniran (5.79) also finishing in the top 10 in seventh and ninth respectively. Oluwademilade was the top-finisher shortly after in the triple jumper after clearing 13.18 meters to take third, with Oluwole claiming fifth with his mark of 12.71 meters.
 
Hopkins' top-five finishes in the field events came to a close in the javelin, in which James Reilly was the Jays's top finisher in third with his throw of 36.41 meters. Coming in just behind in fourth was Owen Takahashi, who cleared 33.90 meters.
 
Saturday's track events kicked off with the 3000-meter steeplechase and a new program record. In the first meet of the season, Emmanuel Leblond beat out a top mark that had stood for the last 33 years set by Johns Hopkins Hall of Famer John Robinson, crossing the line in 9:02.32 — a time that also ranks fifth in Division III — to finish first. Connor Oiler (2^nd – 9:12.76) and Jonas Larson (3^rd – 9:27.44) came in just behind the sophomore in second and third to sweep the top three spots.
 
The Blue Jays had a trio of athletes finish in the 1500 in Kenny Wanlass — who set the freshman program record with his seventh-place time of 3:54.02 —, Gavin McElhennon (9^th – 3:55.52) and Andrew Myers (10^th – 3:56.62), with Rowan Cassidy just missing out with a 12^th-place finish before it was more of the same in the 800 in which Zach Martin, Fisayo Omonije and Evan Kelly claimed seventh, eighth and 10^th, respectively.
 
In Saturday's sprints it was Sebastian Tangelson earning the highest finish among Blue Jay competitors in sixth with a time of 16.72 before Takahashi and Reilly rounded out Hopkins' top 10 finishers in eighth and ninth, respectively. Raymond Zhang finished fourth in the 400, crossing the line in 55.26 before Saturday's sprints concluded with the 200 in which Alex Colletti claimed third with a time of 22.06, also setting a freshman program record along the way.
 
The day's individual events concluded with the 5000 in which Tommy Li (14:44.68), Charles Teeter (14:47.87) and Sean Enright (14:48.35) claimed second, third and fourth respectively before Colletti, Spencer Ye, Michael Kruppa and Ahmed Elmogi combined for a 3^rd place finish in the 4x400, crossing the line in 3:27.69.
 
Next up for the Blue Jays is the Dalton Ebanks Invitational Friday, April 5 and Saturday, April 6.