Joe Dragon sets 3,000-meter personal best on Saturday in Boston

On the second day of the BU David Hemery Valentine Invitational, the men’s distance runners wrapped up the weekend for Syracuse in underwhelming fashion.

Syracuse’s runners participated in three events—the 800-meter, the mile, and the 3,000-meter—on Saturday to complete a weekend highlighted by Paige Stoner, Justyn Knight and Kadejhia Sellers’ strong runs on Friday.

The men’s 3,000-meter, billed as the main event for Saturday, featured Joe Dragon, Kevin James, Dominic Hockenbury, Simon Smith and Jared Lautenslager as well as SU-alum Adam Visokay.

Visokay recorded the fastest time of them all, taking third place with an 8:01:41 time. Dragon (8:13:00) and James (8:14:51), the Orange’s fastest two for the event, finished a second apart in 17th and 19th place, respectively. They both recorded Top 10 times among college runners.

Dragon edged his previous fastest time in the 3,000-meter by .28 seconds to secure a new personal record. James, on the other hand, came about a second short of his personal best.

Hockenbury (8:23:31) and Smith (8:25:13) both finished in the top 50 overall, while Lautenslager brought up the rear for the Orange in 71st place out of over 170 runners.

Noah Affolder, a freshman from Carthage, New York, impressed in the mile with a 4:03:48 time, good for 16th place overall, eighth among collegiate athletes. Nathan Henderson and Andy Paladino also ran the mile for the Orange. Henderson (4:10:54) and Paladino (4:18:04) finished 55th and 124th respectively.

Two weeks ago, Justyn Knight set the bar in the mile with a 3:55:82, breaking his own school record.

Additionally, sophomore Sam Somera competed in the men’s 800-meter race, placing 197th out of 230 runners. His 2:02:43 time trailed the leader by about 15 seconds.