Abaka-Amuah Breaks School Shot Put Record, Men's Track & Field Wins Wildcat Invite

Saturday, April 25

Durham, N.H.

11 AM

University of New Hampshire

Wildcat Invitational

Photo by: Rose Blaney

Abaka-Amuah Breaks School Shot Put Record, Men's Track & Field Wins Wildcat Invite

4/25/2026 9:13:00 PM | Men's Track & Field

DURHAM, N.H. – Senior Yoofi Abaka-Amuah (Worcester, Mass.) broke a school record and won two events to lead the University of New Hampshire men's track & field team to first place at the UNH Wildcat Invitational at Reggie F. Atkins Track & Field Facility on Saturday.

Abaka-Amuah broke his own school record in the shot put with a winning throw of 18.92 meters (62 feet-1 inch). He also won gold in the discus with a top mark of 52.65m (172-9). Abaka-Amuah recorded 20 points with the pair of wins to tie atop the MVP rankings.

UNH won the five-team meet with 177 points at the 'Cats were followed by UMass Lowell (167 points) and Bryant University (112).

"I'm very happy with the women's and men's teams' performance today," said Anna Magle-Haberek, the UNH director of cross country and track & field. "We had two school records, many PRs, and brought home a win for both teams. Every individual fought hard for every point, second and centimeter. I'm excited to see them bring this energy to the conference championship meet."

CLICK HERE to view PDF results. CLICK HERE to view results.

Abaka-Amuah led the shot put field of 14 competitors from beginning to end with a 16.81m throw on his first attempt. That proved to be his sixth-best effort in the event, which he capped with the 18.92m record throw on his last attempt.

Caden Zalenski (Milford, N.H.), another senior, placed fourth in the shot put with a mark of 15.47m (50-9.25).

In the discus, Abaka-Amuah was in third place through two rounds but climbed into the lead with a 51.92m throw on his third attempt, and his best effort of 52.65m (172-9) was in the fourth round. Senior Max LaPointe (Amesbury, Mass.) finished third with a best throw of 49.67m (162-11) on his last attempt. Freshman Shawn Boudreau (Hudson, N.H.) climbed into fourth place in the fourth round and finished there with that mark of 45.50m (149-3).

UNH finished 1-2 in three events.

Junior Julian Rime (New City, N.Y.) won the 800m in 1 minute, 52.14 seconds and was followed by freshman Ryan Zumbach (Hampton, N.H.) in 1:53.43. Rime went to the front of the pack and had a 400m split of 55.34 seconds, then he was the only one in the 16-runner field who ran a sub-57 second last lap (56.81).

The freshmen duo of Ethan Palmer (Bowdoin, Maine) and Rio Calle (Weare, N.H.) took the top two spots in the long jump. Palmer recorded his winning mark of 7.08m (23-2.75) on his third attempt and he usurped Calle, who was atop the leaderboard following his leap of 6.97m (22-10.5) in the first round.

Sophomores Gavin Malark (Stratham, N.H.) and Xavier Lemieux (Buxton, Maine) were the two fastest runners in the 5,000m. Malark was first across the finish line in 14:49.27 and Lemieux followed in 14:57.35.

Senior John Murphy (Deerfield, N.H.) won the 1,500m with a time of 3:52.98. He was third with two laps to go, moved into second with one lap remaining and then was the only runner with a sub-minute (59.84 seconds) final 400m to cross the finish line first in a field of 14 competitors.

Senior Kyran Maher (Andover, Mass.) bested a field of 15 pole vaulters to earn gold by clearing a height of 4.70m (15-5). The three remaining competitors all missed at 4.70m on the first two attempts, but Maher was the only one to clear the bar on the last opportunity.

Sophomore James Gecek (High Bridge, N.J.) won Heat 1 of the 400m in 49.54 seconds and that proved to be the fastest time overall.

Sophomore Sam Grube (Dover, N.H.) tied for second place in the high jump by clearing a height of 1.90m (6-2.75).

The quartet of Gecek, Evan Wong (Beverly, Mass.), Danny Anderson (Naugatuck, Conn.) and Calle raced to second place in the 4x100m relay with a time of 43.49.

The 4x400m relay of Porter Hurteau (Milton, Vt.), Carter Norton (East Greenbush, N.Y.), Rime and Zumbach placed third in 3:26.63.

In the 400m hurdles, senior Nathan Fletcher (Portsmouth, N.H.) finished third in 54.37 and Anderson was fourth at 55.95.

UNH honored 14 student-athletes on Senior Day – Abaka-Amuah, Fletcher, LaPointe, Maher, Murphy, Zalenski, Jayson Blaisdell (Barrington, N.H.), Samuel Hilts (Concord, N.H.), Zachary Hooper (Concord, N.H.), Cameron Jacobs (Naugatuck, Conn.), Joshua Lesniak (Durham, Conn.), Liam McGovern (North Kingstown, R.I.), Michael Mulcahy (Weymouth, Mass.) and Jack Washam (Nashua, N.H.).

The UNH men's track & field team returns to action May 9-10 at the America East Championships, which are at UMass Lowell.

UNH Results

800m
- Rime, 1^st place, 1:52.14
- Zumbach, 2^nd place, 1:53.43
- Norton, 4^th place, 1:55.88
- Hurteau, 7^th place, 1:57.62
- Christian Cerullo (Yardley, Pa.), 10^th place, 2:00.65
Long Jump
- Palmer, 1^st place, 7.08m (23-2.75)
- Calle, 2^nd place, 6.97m (22-10.5)
- Jacobs, 5^th place, 6.71m (22-0.25)
- Grube, 12^th place, 6.44m (21-1.5)
5,000m
- Malark, 1^st place, 14:49.27
- Lemieux, 2^nd place, 14:57.35
- Ian Smith (Munster, Ind.), 7^th place, 15:45.20
Discus
- Abaka-Amuah, 1^st place, 52.65m (172-9)
- LaPointe, 3^rd place, 49.67m (162-11)
- Boudreau, 4^th place, 45.50m (149-3)
- Tyson Patch (Walpole, N.H.), 7^th place, 40.37m (139-1)
Shot Put
- Abaka-Amuah, 1^st place, 18.92m (62-1) – SCHOOL RECORD
- Zalenski, 4^th place, 15.47m (50-9.25)
- Noah Buchanan (Murrieta, Calif.), 8^th place, 14.05m (46-1.25)
- Boudreau, 10^th place, 13.71m (44-11.75)
1,500m
- Murphy, 1^st place, 3:52.98
- Jake Kollmer (Saranac Lake, N.Y.), 4^th place, 4:04.94
- Carson Eames (Littleton, N.H.), 8^th place, 4:06.86
Pole Vault
- Maher, 1^st place, 4.70m (15-5)
- Jacobs, 9^th place, 3.50m (11-5.75)
400m
- Gecek, 1^st place, 49.54
High Jump
- Grube, tie 2^nd place, 1.90m (6-2.75)
4x100m Relay
- Gecek, Wong, Anderson, Calle – 2^nd place, 43.49
4x400m Relay
- Hurteau, Norton, Rime, Zumbach – 3^rd place, 3:26.63
400m Hurdles
- Fletcher, 3^rd place, 54.37
- Anderson, 4^th place, 55.95
200m
- Wong, 9^th place, 22.30
100m
- Wong, 11^th place, 11.66