Westfield State Men’s Track & Field finished third at the New England Division III Championships. (Courtesy of Westfield State Sports)
SPRINGFIELD – Westfield State Owls senior Travon Godette (Mahar/ Orange, Mass.) won both the javelin throw and the decathlon at the New England Division III Men’s Outdoor Track & Field Championships at Springfield College, helping the Owls to a third-place team finish, their best since 1989.
The Owls 4×400 relay team—MASCAC 400 meter champion Esteafan Jack, junior Mike Stender, sophomore Ed Perez, and senior Matthew Moussamih– finished fourth, scoring five points in the penultimate event to vault over Williams College for third-place medalist honors.
MIT won the meet with 179.50 points, followed by Bates College in second at 69 points, and Westfield State in third with 63.5 points—a half point ahead of Williams.
Godette, the reigning national champion in the javelin, won the event with a throw of 65.47 meters (214’9″). In the decathlon, Godette finished first in the shot put, javelin, and high jump to set a school record with 6300 points. He also finished second in the high jump event, clearing 1.93 meters (6’4″) to tally 28 total points for the Owls in his three events.
At the time this story was published, Godette is currently seeded second nationally in the javelin throw, tied-seventh in the high jump, and 12th in the decathlon.
Sophomore Dereck Stone (Bellingham/ Bellingham, Mass.) was also a winner for Westfield, finishing first in the long jump with a jump of 6.74 meters (22’1.5″). Senior John Latour also placed fifth in the event, jumping 6.63 meters (21’9″).
In the 110 meter hurdles, sophomore Ed Perez (Springfield, Mass.) took second place, crossing the finish line in 14.67 seconds for the second-best time in school history and moving into 18th place on the national performance list. Perez also placed fourth in the 400 meter hurdles.
All qualified athletes will compete in the All-New England Championships next weekend in New Haven, Conn. before Westfield State will host the Eastern Coast Athletic Conference Division III Championships on Wednesday, May 18 and Thursday, May 19.
