After a rain out two weeks ago, the Jumbos finally kicked off their outdoor track season with a meet at Springfield last weekend. Facing Springfield, Bates, Westfield, and Southern Maine, Tufts took second place scoring 142 points to Springfield's 228.
While the rainout shortens the already brief outdoor season, and minimizes the opportunities Tufts' has to qualify members for the postseason, coach Connie Putnam was not disappointed by the cancellation. "In some ways it worked to our advantage not rushing into the first outdoor meet of the season," she said.
The Springfield meet proved successful for the Jumbos, as they had good showings in multiple events. Senior co-captain David Patterson, junior J.R Cruz, sophomore Greg Devine, and freshmen Patrick Taylor performed well enough in their season opening meet to qualify for Division III standards, and might also qualify under Division I standards as well.
"I don't think everyone was completely satisfied with where we ended the [indoor] season. Our potential is much greater," junior Ben Smith said.
Patterson's victory in the 3,000-meter steeplechase (9:20.87) and Devine's win in the 400 Hurdles (54.28s) were both close to the provisional qualifying standards for Nationals. While Taylor qualified for a Division III standard with his win in the triple jump (43'10.75), his third-place performance in the long jump missed the qualifying standard by a mere half inch (21'01.50). The trio of Patterson, Devine, and Taylor were the Jumbos' greatest point scorers in the meet with 20, 17.5, and 16 points respectively.
"Dave's time is a strong early season time and Greg's time is a very strong early season time," Putnam said.
These three standouts were not the only Jumbos who had noteworthy displays at the meet. Junior Adam Barrer's performance helped lift the squad to victory. Barrer contributed 13 points, highlighted by his ten point victory in the 400 dash (50.48), a time which Putnam believes will approach the national qualifying standard.
After missing the beginning of the indoor season due to a semester abroad, and his rehabilitation for his ankle after summer surgery, Barrer's performance was especially satisfying for Putnam.
"He's really made a remarkable recovery and he's on a march back to where he was," Putnam said.
The most impressive part of the afternoon was Tufts' balanced scoring throughout the track and field events. Along with Taylor's jumps, the throwing squad showed that it will be formidable this season. Tufts was able to score in both the hammer and discuss throw in large part because of the work of junior Kevin Waltrous and sophomore Andy Dickerson. Bates and Springfield brought two of the NESCAC's strongest throwing squads to the meet, making Tufts ability to score even more convincing.
"The field events were much better than anyone might have expected," Putnam said.
Another high point for the meet was the performance of the 4x400 relay team. Throughout the indoor season, the squad was never able to reach its potential. But in the first outdoor meet of the season, Tufts was able to take second place with a time of 3:27.40 - a strong mark after ending the indoor season with a time of 3:30.45. Especially significant was the fact that the 4x400 squad accomplished this time without the help of Devine who is recovering from a hamstring injury and who Putnam kept out of the race for precautionary reasons. Instead the Jumbos used Sophomore Sam Dangremond to start off, who performed well in Devine's place.
With only three meets left in the regular season, the Jumbos hope to build off their recent success and increase the number of team members to qualify for postseason action. With the rainout of the first meet, Tufts has the ability to make up one meet and increase its qualifying opportunity. A makeup meet, however, has not been scheduled.
"We're ahead of where we would expect to be for our first race," Smith said.
If the Jumbos continue their strong performances they will not necessarily require a makeup contest. Their next meet will take place this weekend at home against Bowdoin, UMass Lowell and MIT.
