Three Bears Compete at Tufts National Qualifying Meet

MEDFORD, Mass. – Bridgewater State University junior Matthew Lighten (Dalton, Mass.) and sophomores Dimetri Morris (North Andover, Mass.) and Exondus Barnes (East Providence, R.I.) competed on Thursday at the Tufts National Qualifying Meet held at the Ellis Oval/Dussault Track.

Lighten placed second in the 200-meter dash with a career-best time of 21.85 seconds, and finished second in the 100-meter dash with a career-best and finals time of 10.89 seconds.

Morris placed second in the 110-meter hurdles with a finals time of 15.14 seconds. He also posted a career-best time of 14.91 seconds in the preliminaries of the event.

Barnes tied for second in the high jump with a height of six feet, 3.5 inches (1.92m), and finished fifth in the long jump with a leap of 21 feet, 10.75 inches (6.67m).

Barnes currently ranks 27th in all of Division III in the high jump and 42nd in the long jump, while Morris is 39th in the hurdles and Lighten checks in at 48th in the 200. Also ranked in the top 50 nationally for the Bears are sophomore Corey Stalters (Norton, Mass.) and junior Jacob DeAndrade (Taunton, Mass.). Stalters is 19th in the javelin, while DeAndrade is 35th in the 100-meter dash.

The field for the 2021 NCAA Division III Men's Outdoor Track & Field Championship is expected to be announced Friday evening by 8:00 PM.