By Dan Canastra

The Huskies had several strong performances, including two first place finishes, at the Duke Invitational last weekend.

Sophomore Idris Payne continued to run past the competition by winning the 400-meter race. Not only did Payne triumph, he broke a Northeastern record with a time of 47.12 seconds.

The 400 “felt good, I ran a controlled race. I knew at the last 50 meters, looking at the clock, I was going to break the record, it just came down to how many tenths of a second,” said Payne.

The other first place finish was in the hammer throw. Co-captain Vinny Tortorella threw the hammer farther than anyone else in the field of 35 teams.

“I was disappointed. I didn’t throw nearly as well as I should have thrown. To me it’s not about winning but improving week by week,” said Tortorella.

Coach Sherman Hart said that the team is very tired. The Duke Invitational was the third consecutive weekend the team had a meet.

“We need to rest the team. We need to make our own break. I am going to pull back a lot of athletes for next week’s meet [The Brown Invitational] that have been involved in the last three meets. We need to get ready for the championships and the regionals,” said Hart.

Despite being fatigued, Hart felt that the team did an admirable job, especially with the competition they were up against. Another hurdle facing the team is the frigid weather Boston has experienced thus far this spring.

Because it’s been so cold, the team has been forced to practice inside, which hurts them because they are used to the outdoor conditions.

Sophomore Derek Anderson had a good weekend. He finished second in both the shot put and discuss with throws of 172’3 and 53’5.75 respectively.

Bryan McCants, a junior, finished second in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 53 seconds. The race was McCants season debut; Hart felt that it was a good way to start off the season. McCants had missed the indoor season and the first two meets of the outdoor section because of a lingering hamstring injury.

Ryan Cahill and Aaron Hill, pole vaulters, both cleared 15 feet, and finished in fourth and fifth place respectively.

Hart also said that having the team traveling to meets down south benefits the program. It gives the Huskies recognition in the south, something that they might not have had years ago. Hart said that he has gotten invitations to bring his team to other schools down south such as Virginia and South Carolina. He also said, joking around, that schools down south and in the west think they are the only ones with track programs. Northeastern traveling throughout the country, and being competitive everywhere they go, is bringing national recognition to the program.

While the Huskies continue their season this weekend at the Brown Invitational at 11 a.m. Hart still feels that the team has room for improvement.

“I’m not happy but satisfied with the past week, we have a ways to go,” said Hart.