By Bradley Rosenberg

The Northeastern Huskies were beaten by the Harvard Crimson on Saturday by a score of 75-70, but the men were hardly losers, as they were able to set two new NU records at the dual meet.

The first record was set by senior Vinny Tortorella, one of the team’s captains and participant in the 35-pound weight throw. Tortorella was able to surpass NU alumnus Boris Djerassi’s throw of 68’2.5 with what he calls “his own personal best” of 69’9.25. Tortorella’s throw just barely missed the automatic NCAA qualifying mark of 70’0.5, but he will most likely be selected for the meet.

The second school record was set by sophomore Idris Payne, as he ran the 200 in a mere 21.70 seconds. Payne also performed well in the 400 with a time of 47.84.

Northeastern Coach Sherman Hart greatly appreciated the accomplishments of the two men, praising Payne for his “great time” and Tortorella for his almost certain qualification to the national meet, but he also felt disappointed in his team’s loss.

“When we lost, we lost because we made mistakes,” he said, “not because Harvard beat us. I feel bad because we made too many mistakes, but I [also] feel good because I felt we competed well. We just have a lot of work to do.”

Hart believes that his team “has a few kinks to iron out” due to only having one meet in December, but that they’ll do better in the future. Captain Tortorella subscribes to this theory as well.

“As time goes on and we approach the latter parts of the season, the team’s going to grow stronger and we’ll continue to get better,” Tortorella said.

Other great performances came from runner Bryan McCants, who won the 60 hurdles and the 500, Derek Anderson, who won the shot put, and Aaron Hill, who won the pole vaulting event.

Next up is the Albany Invitational on Sun., Jan. 19.