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Watch Jenkins win the mile (YouTube.com)

The Northeastern men's track & field team stared down its fiercest competition of the season on Friday night at the Great Dane Classic (hosted by Albany) and turned in numerous record-setting performances in a third-place team finish out of 26 squads at the famed Armory track in Manhattan.

With a trio of top three finishes propelling the Huskies, Northeastern also toppled the NU track & field annals. Northeastern registered five marks that rank in the top five in school history on Friday night, including senior transfer Darius Velez topping his own 60-meter dash mark (6.89) for the school record, sophomore Brian Doyle's 3,000-meter time (8:22.93 – third-best), rookie Jared Lane's 60-meter hurdles trial (8.26 – third-best), sophomore Eric Jenkins' mile conquest (4:02.74 – fourth-best) and second-year leaper Kaylin Miranda's long jump feat (23'11.5 – tied for fifth-best).

After Jenkins' marvelous mile, only one other student-athlete in the NCAA has bested his thus far. Rich Peters of Boston University owns the top mile mark through Jan. 20 (4:00.13).

The Huskies combined for a third-place total of 49 points while the University of Connecticut ran away with the 2012 Great Dane Classic title (119 points)..

Velez set the precedent with a sixth-place final blitz of 6.91, but topped his own school record in the preliminaries with a time of 6.89. The Cambridge product set the original NU standard last year on Jan. 9, 2011 (6.90).

Jenkins burst onto the scene in his first competition of the 2011-12 season with a victory in the mile. The Portsmouth, N.H. native emerged from the 40-man pack with a triumphant time of 4:02.74. The mark was the Huskies' fourth-fastest indoor mark in school history and the fastest time in almost nine years since Erik Nedeau set the school record on Feb. 27, 1993.

“Eric made some tactical mistakes tonight, but he pulled it out in the end,” Northeastern distance coach Renny Waldron said. “To open up the season running a 4:02 mile is impressive for anyone, let alone a sophomore.”

Continuing in the distance game, Jenkins' classmate, Brian Doyle etched his name in Huskies' lore with the school's third-best time in program history after completing the 3,000-meter run in 8:22.93. Doyle claimed fourth place overall in NU's best time for the 3K this season. Rookie Stephen Sollowin closed out in 15th with a time of 8:38.08 while freshman Zachary Fraeilli finished in 30th place with a mark of 8:53.69.

Lane was the last Husky to complete a top-five time in NU history after turning in a sixth-place beat of 8.28 in the 60-meter hurdles. Lane's mark stands as Northeastern's third-fastest indoor time in school history. Sophomore Jackson MacDonald posted an11th-place finish in the same event with a time of 8.56.

Finishing out the slate on the oval, freshman Conor Lyons captured sixth place in the 1,000-meter run (2:31.97) while second-year sprinter Alex Shapiro registered a 14th-place mark of 49.85 in the 400-meter dash. Junior Anthony Gentles closed out the challenging 800-meter dash in 33rd after crossing in 2:00.45. The 4 x 400-meter relay team consisting of sophomore Dylan Lucas, Lane, Miranda and Shapiro put together the team's best time of the season in the 4 x 400 meter relay with a combination of 3:23.12 for 10th place.

Miranda's mark of 7.30m (23'11.5) in the long jump not only yielded a runner-up finish, but matched Mike Shinsky's mark set on Jan. 8, 1983 to tie for fifth place all-time. Veteran Andrew Staples cleared 69.8m (22'11) for ninth place while junior Tejorn Davis was awarded 12th place with his mark of 6.78m (22'3).

Senior Patrick Jablonski threw for third place in the shot put after a heave of 16.70m (54'9.5) while junior Mark Mastone netted 17th place after his toss of 14.28m (46'10.25).

In the triple jump, Davis strung together a combo of 14.16m (46'5.5) for seventh place while rookie Jason Matthews followed one spot after in eighth (14.15m – 46'2.25).

Lucas closed out the Huskies fantastic day with a three-way tie for ninth place in the pole vault after a season-best spring of 4.50m (14'9).

Northeastern returns to the Reggie Lewis Center to host the first-annual Joe Donahue Games on Friday, Feb. 3, recently renamed from the Boston Indoor Games to honor the late Huskies' Hall of Fame throwing coach, Joe Donahue.