SPRINGFIELD, Mass. -- Senior Conor Murtagh (Walpole, Mass.) placed first in the preliminaries of the 110-meter hurdles to lead the Bridgewater State University men's track & field team during day one of the 2016 Division III New England Outdoor Track & Field Championships hosted by Springfield College on Friday.

Murtagh posted a preliminary time of 14.56 seconds as he edged Westfield State's Edison Perez by 3/10 of a second. Murtagh will compete in the finals on Saturday.

Classmate Andrew Couture (Dighton, Mass.) also advanced to Saturday's finals as he placed sixth in the preliminaries of the 100-meter dash. Couture posted a time of 11.05 seconds.