Steve Parece and Matt Moussamih match strides in the home stretch of the 800 meters at the Jerry Gravel Classic. Parece won the race by just 3/100th of a second. (Photo courtesy of Westfield State Sports)
WESTFIELD – Seniors Stephen Parece and Matt Moussamih ran 1-2 in the 800 meters among a host of strong performances for Westfield State University, as the Owls took second place at their Jerry Gravel Classic at WSU’s Jerry Gravel Track on Saturday.
Parece an Moussamih dueled down the stretch with Parece outleaning Moussamih by 3/100th of a second to win in 1:58.42. Moussamih also anchored the Owls winning 4×100 relay in a race that was nearly as close with “Moose” crossing the tape just 11/100th of a second in front of the Utica entry in the final meet of the day.
Senior Travon Godette, the defending national champion in the javelin, made his seasonal bow in the event with a winning throw of 62.89M (206′-4″).
Freshman Esteafan Jack got home first in the 400 meters in a tidy 49.58. Jeremy Forgue captured the 400 hurdles in a 55.71 with a strong finish to win the race.
Dereck Stone won the long jump with a leap of 6.62M (21-8.75) and Yuta Suzuki took the 5000 meters in 16:11.52 to round out the Owls’ slate of winners.
Utica College won the team title with a score of 216, Westfield was second at 164, UMass Dartmouth placed third with 133, and Bridgewater was fourth with 80.
Westfield will be back in action next week at the Springfield College Invitational meet. – Courtesy of Westfield State Sports
