By Jim Fenton

MEDFORD, Mass. -- Senior Kevin McBirney (East Bridgewater, Mass.) broke the school record in the 1,000-meter run to lead the Bridgewater State University men's indoor track & field team on Saturday at the Tufts Branwen Smith-King Invitational Saturday.

The Bears placed third in the six-team field with 127 points, trailing Tufts University (241) and Springfield College (133.5) at the Gantcher Center.

McBirney captured top honors in the 1,000 with a time of 2:29.42 as he eclipsed the previous BSU indoor standard of 2:29.69 set by Andy Sukeforth in 2012. He won the race by more than two seconds over Will Cusato of Tufts, who finished in 2:32.92.

McBirney, who qualified for the NEICAAA Championships in the 1,000, was among three Bears who placed first in an event at the meet.

Freshman Alex Huynh (Stoughton, Mass.) won the long jump while graduate student Corey Stalters (Norton, Mass.) placed first in the shot put.

Huynh, a two-time Massachusetts State College Athletic Conference rookie of the week, continued the sensational start to his career.

Huynh had a jump of 22 feet, 2.5 inches (6.77m) to win, besting Sahr Matturi (21'7.5"/6.59m) of host Tufts.

Stalters won the shot put with a distance of 49 feet, 3.5 inches (15.02m) as he qualified for the NEICAAA Championships in the event.

Teammate Zanthius Collins (Franklin, Mass.), a senior, was third with a heave of 45 feet, 7.75 inches (13.91m).

The BSU 4x800 relay team finished second in a time of 8:25.16.

The group consisted of McBirney, sophomore Aydan Fournier (Assonet, Mass.), senior Kenny Goodwin (Chelmsford, Mass.) and sophomore Brian Vale (Assonet, Mass.).

Sophomore Matthew Mooney (Douglas, Mass.) was second in the 200 in 22.34 seconds and third in the 60-meter dash in 7.17 seconds.

Sophomore Shaun Humberd (Plymouth, Mass.) was second in the 400 with a time of 51:59 followed in third place by teammate Stephen Spofford (Chelmsford, Mass.) in 51.80.

Senior Chigozie Adigwe (Lowell, Mass.) was third in the 60-meter hurdles in 8.58.

Graduate student Mason Matias (New Bedford, Mass.) took third in the 200 in 22.27 and was fifth in the 60 with a finals time of 7.23. Matias qualified for the Division III New England Championships in the 200.

Junior Kyle Ackroyd (Charlestown, R.I.) was fourth in the mile (4:35.11). 

BSU's next competition is Friday at 9 a.m. at the River Hawk Invitational in Boston followed by the MASCAC Championships on Feb. 16.