Amherst, MA (U-WIRE) -- Saturday, two individuals, as well as two relay teams, qualified for the

IC4A Championship, as the UMass Men's track team competed in the Boston University Valentine Invitational.

UMass Senior, Jon Korhonen, was one of the Minutemen to qualify for the IC4A Championships on Saturday with his performance in the Mile Run. He finished 10th overall at a time of 4:08.50. Korhonen continued to show his versatility to the team on Saturday. A week ago at the "Rhody Mega Meet", Korhonen placed 1st in the 3,000 meter run.

Junior, James Godinho also qualified for the IC4A Championships by finishing second in the 500 meter. His time of 1:03.31 was good enough to land him in second place. His performance on Saturday was a personal best. Finishing ahead of Godinho, was Boston University's Lucjan Zaborowski. (1:02.77). Prince Anderson of Coppin State rounded out the top three with a time of 1:04.34.

The UMass relay teams also exhibited great effort and in return gained success. The 4x4 Relay team clocked in at 3:18.64, a time that landed them at 12th place in a very competitive field. Their effort on Saturday will also be sending them to the IC4A Championships as well.

The last to qualify for the elite invitation competition was the 4x8 relay team. Their time of 7:45.55 earned them first place in the relay. They beat out tough performances from Elizabethtown College (7:47.54) and Southern Connecticut State (7:49.70).

The IC4A Championships will be held on Saturday and Sunday, Mar. 5 and 6 in Boston. Should any of the qualifiers for this invitational do well enough, they will be invited to travel to Sacramento, Calif. the following week for the NCAA Championships.

In addition to the great performances on the track, Minutemen impressed in other individual events as well. Senior Henry Smith once again impressed as he took 8th place in the Triple Jump with a leap of 45 feet and 10.75 inches. Smith's leap Saturday was his best of the season.

The Minutemen also showed great performance in the shot put event. There, the tandem of freshmen, Ryan Logan and Sean Calicchio dazzled the competition. Logan finished in eighth place with a throw of 49 feet 11.2 inches. While Calicchio finished close behind him in 10th place, with a throw of 48 feet 8.25 inches. The two freshmen shot-putters continue to improve which each throw, as they close out their freshmen year.

Next on tap for the Men's Track Team is the Atlantic 10 Championships. One of the more important meets of the season will begin at 10 a.m. in Kingston, R.I.

(C) 2004 Massachusetts Daily Collegian via U-WIRE