SOMERVILLE, Mass. -- The Bates men's track and field team achieved a litany of impressive marks and times Saturday at the Tufts Invitational, led again by another outstanding performance by senior John Rex.

Rex (Andover, Mass.) came within two inches of matching his own personal-best mark in the hammer throw, which he achieved a week ago at Bates. Rex placed first out of eight competitors in the event in 191'4". Rex currently ranks sixth in Division III in the hammer and is in outstanding position to compete in the NCAA Championships May 28-29 in Greensboro, N.C.

Rex also placed first out of nine in the shot put (47'3") and first out of 10 in the discus throw (140'11").

Other Bates highlights from the non-scoring meet included:

• Sophomore Liam Byrne (Ridgefield, Conn.) was first out of four in the javelin throw with a personal-best mark of 165'8"). Byrne also came in second behind Rex in three other events: the shot put (45'7.75"), hammer throw (154'4") and discus throw (140'1").
• Senior Zach Smith (Waterville, Maine) was second in the javelin throw (162'10"), fourth in the hammer (139'5") and fourth in the discus (126'0").
• First-year Jacob Goff (Scarborough, Maine) finished third in the shot put (44'2.5").
• Senior Ryan Nealis (London, England) placed fourth out of 18 men in the 1,500 meters with his time of 3:54.35.
• Senior Miles Nabritt (Brooklyn, N.Y.), just off his career-best time of 51.12.
• Sophomore Robert Griffin (Norwell, Mass.) placed fourth out of 10 runners in the 400-meter dash with a personal-best time of 51.33. 
• Sophomore Owen Glover (Andover, Mass.) ran fifth in the 800 meters in a personal-best time (2:00.59).