NORTHAMPTON, Mass., PROVIDENCE, R.I., and AMHERST, Mass. -- The Bates men's track and field team impressed at three different meets Friday and Saturday in a busy weekend for the Bobcats.

The Bobcats sent rookie Carson Moellering (Natick, Mass.) to the Carla Coffey Invitational on the campus of Smith College where he scored 4,142 points in the decathlon. Moellering's best showing the 10-event competition was in the 1,500 meters, where he took second place in 4:40.08.

Elsewhere, a pair of distance runners headed to the Friar Invitational on the campus of Providence College. Senior Eli Boesch Dining (Concord, N.H.) delivered a standout performance in the 5K, racing to the finish in 14:34.73, the fifth fastest time in Bates men's outdoor track and field history. 

The majority of the team went to the UMass Commonwealth Invite, where the Bobcats took third place as a team. Senior captain Ryan Smith (Westport, Conn.) and sophomore Krishna Kakani (Monroe, N.J.) led a 1-2 Bates finish in the 5K there, with Smith winning with a time of 15:04.72.

Meanwhile, senior Derek Shen (Bellevue, Wash.) took second in the 100-meter dash in a personal record time of 10.94 seconds, the sixth fastest time in program history. Sophomore Aydan Gedeon-Hope (Norton, Mass.) impressed in the 100 as well, cracking the Bates all-time top-10 list in a tie for ninth, thanks to his fifth-place time of 11.05 seconds on Saturday.

Senior Robby Griffin (Norwell, Mass.) was another standout performer for Bates, taking second place in the 400 meters in 49.39 seconds, the ninth fastest time in program history. He was part of the runner-up 4x100 relay team, which also consisted of Shen, sophomore Kevin O'Connor (Milford, Mass.), and senior captain Colby Stakun-Pickering (Wellesley, Mass.). They raced to the finish in 42.20 seconds, the second-best mark in program history. 

Griffin completed his trifecta of strong performances by helping the 4x400 relay team, featuring sophomore Truman Williams (Montclair, N.J.), first-year Evan Migdole (Westbrook, Conn.), and senior Peter Ackley (New Albany, Ohio) move into seventh on the Bates all-time performance list in 3:19.34, good for second-place on Saturday.

Sophomore Aidan Rooney (Bay Shore, N.Y.) set a personal record in the 1,500 meters, finishing runner-up in 3:58.26.

In the throws, senior captain Liam Byrne (Ridgefield, Conn.) took third (181-5), and a pair of Bobcats set personal records, in the hammer. Junior Jacob Goff (Scarborough, Maine) came in seventh with a PR of 159-10 and junior James Guinee (Topsfield, Mass.) finished ninth at 157-1. 

The Bobcats scored 105 points as a team, behind only Division I schools Maine (110 points) and host UMass Amherst (184 points).

Bates is back in action this Saturday in Standish, Maine for the Pine Tree Classic, as the Bobcats look to defend their state title.