The Jumbos began the season on a winning note, taking first place in the Tufts Invitational last Saturday. Facing fairly easy competition from small schools such as Worcester State and Fitchburg State, the atmosphere at the meet was relatively care free.
"It was a pretty low key meet for us," coach Connie Putnam said. "These were not high performance teams."
The lack of competition made the meet a painless victory for Tufts. Instead of focusing on winning, Putnam saw the meet as an opportunity for his men to ease into the track season.
"It allowed us to get re-acclimated to racing," he said.
Team members agree that the Jumbos were not thoroughly tested in last weekend's meet, nor will they face particularly strong opponents in their upcoming home meet this weekend.
"Until we go to Bowdoin [January 27] we are going to be facing squads that won't pose much of a problem. We haven't really been tested yet," said Darren Fabbri, a senior.
Although thus far untested, Tufts' coach was pleased with the team's overall performance in the season opener. "We had good balance across the board," she said.
On the heels of the winter recess, the team had several strong performances. Taking first or second place in every running event, the Jumbos recorded wins by Fabbri in the 400 meters (53.06 seconds), and sophomores Bryant Coen (2:00.55) and Greg Devine (8.07) in the 800 and 55 meter hurdles, respectively.
Returning from a semester abroad, junior Adam Barrer also had an impressive performance, placing fourth in the 200 (24.04). Putnam was impressed by Barrer's ability to adjust after missing the beginning of the season and all practices.
Putnam feels that many of his team member's times were slower than usual due to the extended winter break and the meet's lack of competition. For the first official meet of the season, he felt that his men had a solid showing.
Strong performances from Chinua Thelwell and Patrick Taylor showed that the freshmen will likely have an important impact in the upcoming season. Thelwell ran well in the 55 hurdles, taking second place (8.13), while Taylor helped the team in the jumps placing second in the long jump (6.17 m).
"The freshmen are making a pretty big difference. Patrick and Chinua are making big strides, which helped a lot," Fabbri said.
While Taylor's impact has helped strengthen a depleted jumping team, the Jumbos have little depth within this squad.
"We're still a little bit weak there, but we'll strengthen up," Putnam said.
To remedy the situation, Putnam hopes that Taylor will continue to improve and other freshmen will be able to join the group. The possibility of Devine jumping still remains if the team needs more jumpers later in the season.
The Jumbos' other key weakness was in the high jump. With senior Adam Mantzaris out from a rugby injury, Tufts entered the meet without their only high jumper. Putnam hopes that he will be able to fully use Mantzaris within two weeks. "It will be a weakness in the meantime," he said.
While problems with the jumping squad remain, this year's team should be a stronger and more balanced group than last year's. The Tufts Invitational this weekend should be another relaxed meet. Facing schools such as Hartwick and Western State, Putnam admits that his team "is not really racing hard yet."
The women's team also enjoyed a successful weekend, finishing first in the Tufts Invitational by a wide margin. The Jumbos amassed 212 points, well ahead of second place Trinity, which finished with 85.
A number of first-place individual performances carried the team to victory. Folake Aaron edged teammate Myriam Claudio, taking the 55 in a time of 7.87. She also dominated the 55 hurdles (9.01), winning by over a second.
In the 200, Claudio won with a time of 28.14, while Jennifer Edelmann took the 3,000 (11:20.47).
In the field events, Tufts put together a strong showing as well. Amy Spiker won the high jump (1.47 m), and Sarah Leistikow took the long jump (4.72). In the shot put, Jess Gauthier took first place with an 8.85 meter throw.
Both teams will be settling back into the semester routine this upcoming week. Each squad will participate in the Tufts Invitational on Saturday at 12 p.m. before jumping into the hardest part of their schedules.
