Buckley Outdistances Rojas in Rematch At Televised Bentley Invitational Mile

Northeastern's Mike Buckley kicked past Harvard's Ric Rojas in the sixth lap of a ten-lap mile, and never relinquished the lead to win the televised invitational race at Monday night's Greater Boston Meet at Bentley College.

Rojas, who had beaten Buckley in an earlier outing at Northeastern's track, started out in the lead, but hit a slow quarter mile time of 64 seconds. He maintained a slim lead over Buckley with a half mile time of 2:08, but fell a stride behind shortly before the three-quarter mark. Buckley picked up a stride in succeeding lap and Roja's kick wasn't enough to make up the difference.

Rojas crossed the finish line at 4:14:1, six-tenths of a second behind Buckley.

"We went out ridiculously slow, and I wanted someone else to lead, but nobody would take it from me," Rojas said yesterday.

Rojas, who had a vital infection last weekend, said he felt the sickness might have taken a little edge off his race. "It might have hurt me a little, but it's no excuse. Buckley ran a great tactical race," he said.

"When I hit the three-quarter mark I felt pretty dead. I thought I might have been able to catch him near the end, but his lead was too much," the Crimson senior said.

Coach Edgar Stowell said yesterday that the race went much the way he anticipated it would. "The runners sort of proved what we thought the first time--they are both very even," Stowell said.

"Hopefully we will settle the match in the Greater Boston Meet next week," he said.

Finishing behind Buckley and Rojas was John Maybee, of Tufts University. Maybee--a surprise challenger for the crown, was only a few seconds off the pace.