RICHMOND, Va. – A handful of first-place finishes highlighted the day as William & Mary opened up its outdoor season at Richmond's Fred Hardy Invitational on Friday.
 
Making their collegiate debuts in the outdoor shot put, the freshman tandem of Jason Nwosu and Ross Bazzichi captured the top two spots in the event. Nwosu was first at 15.58m (51-05.5), and Bazzichi wasn't far behind at 14.43m (47-04.2). Meanwhile, in the javelin, Chris Arias picked up right where he left off last season, finishing first at 62.17m (203-11), while Alex Ust captured a second-place finish at 55.85m (183-03). His performance moves him into No. 14 on the Tribe's all-time performers list in the event.
 
On the track, Jackson Cooley led the field in the 100m with a time of 11.05. Sam Pritchard added a bit of dramatics to the day as he grabbed first place in the 800m, with a time of 1:52.00, edging out his next-closest competitor by .01. 
 
Hammer Throw
Bazzichi added another strong performance to his day, placing seventh at 45.95m (159-09).

Discus
The first-year duo of Nwosu and Bazzichi finished second and third at 45.78m (150-02) and 41.60m (136-05), respectively. 
 
Running Events
110m Hurdles
Gabriel Albers was sixth with a time of 16.21.
 
400m Hurdles
Gabriel Albers ran a 59.26 to place fourth.
 
800m
Jacob Jones gave the Tribe another top-5 finish in the event, with a fourth-place showing of 1:52.69. Evan Goodell was 11^th (1:54.84), Luke Henkel was 13th (1:56.54), T.J. Corliss was 16^th (1:57.45), Matthias Oettl was 19^th (1:59.31), and Stephen Larson was 22^nd (2:00.19).
 
1,500m
Brendan DiStefano was 12^th (3:59.41), and Luke Ellwood was 15^th (4:01.60) to lead W&M. Joshua Shackelford finished 28th, and Jonathan Kumer was 38^th.

5,000m 
Patrick North recorded a time of 15:08.60 to finish tenth. 
 
UP NEXT:
The Tribe pulls double-competition duty next weekend, traveling to N.C. State for Thursday and Friday's Raleigh Relays before hosting the annual Dan Stimson Memorial Meet on Saturday.