Facing its toughest competition of the season this past weekend, the men's track team was only able to secure a fourth-place finish at the Tufts Invitational. Competing at the Gancher Center, the team faced several strong opponents, losing to MIT, the College of New Jersey, and Springfield College.
Despite the strength of his team's competition, coach Connie Putnam did not structure the Jumbos for a victory, instead focusing on individual running times and field marks in the hopes of qualifying runners for the Feb. 16-17 New England Div. III championships.
As a result, Tufts' 86 points was 44 behind third-place Springfield, and 103 behind MIT, which won the meet.
"It was the biggest meet we've been in all year, but Connie hasn't put the team together to beat other teams," sophomore Adam Sharp said.
Throughout the indoor season, Putnam has stressed that the goal of every meet is not victory but instead the continuous improvement of his team heading into the New England Div III meet.
"We got a lot accomplished this weekend," sophomore Brain Pitko said. "We had a lot of personal bests and a lot of good races."
Putnam had hoped that the meet would feature tough competition that would drive his runners' times down. But the coach said the MIT, Tufts' biggest rival at the meet, did not run with the aggressiveness he had expected.
"I was a little disappointed because I thought head to head the meet would have more fire than it did," Putnam said. "But MIT set up the team so that they could beat College of New Jersey. Therefore, they ran tactical races rather than hard races."
The days' best races for Tufts came in 1500 and 3000 meter runs and 55 hurdles. Senior David Patterson was the victor in both the 1500 and 3000 (3:58.24 and 8:35.68, respectively). With what Putnam called a "phenomenal" race, his 1500 time placed him within the NCAA qualifying standards.
In the 55 high hurdles, Pitko won the race (7.83), followed in third place by his teammate, sophomore Greg Devine (7.85).
Meanwhile, junior Adam Barrer's race in the 55 (6.88) was a season best. Sophomore Bryant Coen also turned in an impressive performance, taking fourth place in the 800 with a career-best 1:58.97. But while both men made significant improvements on their times, neither was able to qualify for New England Div. III's.
Putnam said that the meet was "business as usual. There were no real improvements, but there was consistency. At least we didn't move backwards."
While the running squads seemed on course with Putnam's seasonal plans, the coach was concerned with his team's sub-par performance in many of the field events. A scoring weakness for the Jumbos throughout the season, the coach concedes that lack of depth in these events is what hampers the Jumbos from challenging for the top spots in most meets.
On the field, the Jumbos were able to score few points, with top ten finishes including Pat Taylor's
fifth-place performance in the triple jump (42' 3") and Chris Martin in the shot putt (6th, 42' 6"). Taylor and Mark Tang tied for 10th in the long jump (19' 7").
"I'm happy with where we are with our running events, but I'm concerned with our field events," Putnam said. "We definitely need to improve in that area."
Putnam is pleased with the efforts of the field squad, but it is the lack of depth that continues to be the team's most glaring weakness. The only way this problem can be fixed will be through recruiting new talent in the next few years.
"We were successful where we were capable," Putnam said.
This weekend, the Jumbos who have not already done so will have their last chance to qualify for New England Div. III's. The fourth and final installment of the Tufts Invitational will not be scored.
