Using a combination of strong freshmen and crafty veterans, the men's indoor track team dominated the seven-team Tufts Invitational in the Gantcher Center on Saturday. The Jumbos finished with 217 points, crushing second-place Keene State College at 132 team points. Colby College finished third with 95 points, and Northeastern University fourth with 81 points.
Even with these impressive scores, the team was not satisfied. "It was a good early season performance, but there is still a lot of work to be done," senior quad-captain Andrew Benedict said.
The most exciting race of the day was the 600-meter race where freshman Ray Carre picked up the win. Carre finished with a time of 1:23.03 edging out National Champion Mark Miller from Keene State who finished in a time of 1:23.66. Making the win even more special for Carre is the fact that he also set a school record in the event.
"We are really proud of him," Benedict of said of Carre.
Fellow freshman Tom Tropea also competed in the 600 and ran a solid race, finishing fifth with a time of 1:28.45.
"I raced all right [but] wasn't quite happy," Tropea said. Tropea was running his first race since suffering a foot injury. "Ray is a great guy, I'm happy to see him do so well and I know he is happy seeing me push myself."
Another nail bitter was the 55 final. This time, the competition was not coming from another team but rather was amongst Jumbo runners. Junior quad-captain Greg Devine, Benedict, junior Bryan Pitko and freshman standout Isaiah Nelms-Osayande all met in the finals of the 55-meter dash. From the start of the race, it was a battle between Devine and Nelms-Osayande.
"I was looking at their backs the entire time," Benedict said. At the end, just as when it seemed that the speedy freshman was going to out leg the proven junior, Devine passed and won by a neck.
"I saw [Devine] next to me and just concentrated on running my own race," Nelms-Osayande said. Devine finished with a time of 6.62 and Nelms-Osayande second with a 6.69. Although Benedict was staring at his teammates' backs for the entire race, he still managed to finish third with a time of 6.79 and Pitko finished fifth with a mark of 6.91.
"Greg's an amazing runner, Isaiah is not in great shape, but could be there," Benedict said. "He could be the fastest guy on the team."
Other good individual performances included senior quad-captain J.R. Cruz, who finished first in the 5,000 in a time of 15:01.84, beating fellow senior Justin Lewis who finished second with a time of 15:56.13. Sophomore Ryan McPherson had personal bests in the shot put and the weight throw. He placed seventh in the shot with a throw of 12.49 meters and threw the weight 9.91 meters.
The team is not dominated by any one group of athletes as the Jumbos had victories in sprints, distance, and throwing. "We have a great distance background and the sprint team is really picking it up," Tropea said. "It is a step up from other years."
The Jumbos continue to work towards their goal, which according to Benedict is performing well at the New England Div. III Championships on Feb. 15 and 16 at Bates. The team looks to use the momentum from this win and continue its success on Saturday, Jan. 26 at Bowdoin.
