Men's track coach Connie Putnam had hoped his team would finish in the top eight at last weekend's New England Division III Championships. The Jumbos met their coach's expectations and then some, putting together one of their strongest performances of the year in coming away with a fifth place finish.
The team's feat was all the more impressive considering the strength of the competition and the loss of one of its strongest runners, sophomore Greg Devine. Injuring his hamstring in a preliminary event, Devine was unable to race, though he had been scheduled for the 55 meter High Hurdles, the 200 dash, and as a member of the 4x400 relay team.
"Losing Greg probably cost us fourth place," said Putnam, who was still satisfied with his team's performance.
"I'm thrilled we were fifth," the coach said. "It was all a matter of our hard work."
"At the beginning of the day I wouldn't have thought that we would place fifth," junior Ben Smith said. "But I was impressed by the number of ways the team pulled together. The overall team support was better than I've ever seen it,"
Leading the Jumbos was senior co-captain David Patterson. Scoring 18 of the team's 36 points, Patterson placed second in the 1500 in 3:55.04 - a provisional NCAA qualifying mark - and won the 5000 (14:55.64). Patterson's performance at the Div. III meet impressed his coach and teammates alike.
"He's so good that every time you think he can't get better, he just surprises you with how much heart he has," Smith said.
"Dave virtually put on a show for everyone there," Putnam said. "He demonstrated just how advanced our distance program has become."
Junior J.R Cruz provided another highlight in the distance events. Placing fourth in the 5000, Cruz's points proved to be crucial to the Jumbos' success.
Sophomore Bryan Pitko also helped the team by placing third in the 55 high hurdles with a time of 7.74, tying a school record.
Placing third, the men's distance medley team (DMR) had one of its strongest performances of the season (10:43.55). Comprised of sophomores Adam Sharp, Jake Berman, and juniors Jason Mann and Andy Benedict, each member ran one of his fastest times on the season.
Team members attributed the strong performance to the Jumbos' depth and consistency.
"We had a fairly all-around performance because everybody stepped up," Patterson said. "We had to fight for every point."
Among the more surprising events of the day was the Tufts' surpassing of Bowdoin College. While the Jumbos lost to the Polar Bears earlier in the season, Bowdoin fell to ninth place at Regionals. Lacking consistency from its runners, Putnam said that Bowdoin "just didn't get it done."
After this past weekend's hard work, the Jumbos enter the All New-England Championships this weekend at Boston University. Among the competition will be Div. I squads from the region, meaning the Jumbos will not focus so much on team placing. Putnam says the Jumbos will approach the meet with a more relaxed outlook than at Div. III's.
Among the goals for the weekend is to put together an NCAA-qualifying DMR team. Putnam will reconfigure the squad for the meet, using juniors Smith and Adam Barrer, senior Patterson, and sophomore Bryant Coen. Putnam feels that the squad will have to increase its speed by about 30 seconds to meet a provisional time.
Patterson will have a final attempt at breaking Mark Hardie's 1983 school record in the 3000, which stands at 8:31.44. Patterson has come close, running 8:32.44 earlier in the season, and Putnam hopes he will crack the mark this weekend.
