BOSTON, Mass. – Senior Jeffrey Love (Union, N.J.) broke the meet record and won the 5k to lead the Connecticut College men's track & field team on day one of the New England Division III Championship on Friday. 

The Camels finished the opening day with 16 team points and sit in fourth place out of 19 scoring teams at the TRACK at New Balance in Boston, Mass.

Love put on an incredible performance in the 5k crossing the line in 14:20.55, almost four seconds faster than the previous record set by Tyler Morris of Colby last season.

Love never strayed far from the top of the pack during the race, remaining in the top-five positions throughout. Just over halfway through, the senior turned on the jets and opened up a sizable lead over the rest of the field. Love held off a late challenge from Williams' Simon Kissam to win his first New England title. 

After finishing 10th in the same event at the regional championships last season, Love improved in a major way, trimming over 38 seconds off his time from 2022. 

The men's distance medley relay team of Harry Harwood (Woodbury, Conn.), Luke Alban (Piedmont, Calif.), Chris Verstandig (Slingerlands, N.Y.) and Jonathan Norton (Vineyard Haven, Mass.) earned All-New England honors with their third place finish in the event. The quartet crossed the line in 10:01.00, which currently is the 23rd-fastest time in all of Division III this season.    

Connecticut College will resume action tomorrow for day two of the regional championships. The event is set to start at 9 a.m. 

ALL-NEW ENGLAND RECIPIENTS
Jeffrey Love - 5k
Harry Harwood - Distance medley relay
Luke Alban - Distance medley relay
Chris Verstandig - Distance medley relay
Jonathan Norton - Distance medley relay