The men's and women's track teams intend to enter this weekend's final regular season meet with the same goal as the Patriots did in their last regular season game against the Carolina Panthers: have a strong showing with no injuries, but save the really good stuff until the postseason.
"The [men's] team is a lot like the Pats. It's a group of regular kids who work really hard and see results because of it," coach Connie Putnam said.
Results are evident on the men's team, as 20 of its members have qualified for the Division III Championship meet, and three have made it to the NCAA Championships. This weekend's non-scoring Tufts Invitational III is dubbed by some as a last-chance meet - it's the last event of the regular season and the final chance to qualify for the looming postseason.
Amongst the members of the team looking to better their marks are senior quad-captain Andy Benedict - less than a second away from the Division I qualifier of 50.54 seconds - and freshman Raynald Carre in the 400m dash. Junior quad-captain Greg Devine will also be shooting for the postseason in the 400 dash, being fractions of a second away from the NCAA marks of 50.00 seconds for provisional and 49.00 seconds for automatic qualifications. Freshman Thomas Tropea will be gunning it in the 600 dash.
"I'd like to see Devine run the first 200 of the quarter. He could easily make the time, but he just seems to coast during the first half of the race," Benedict said.
In the longer distances, both sophomore Ian Joseph and junior Adam Sharp will attempt a shot at the postseason in the 1500 run. The distance medley - comprised of Devine, Carre, senior quad-captain J.R. Cruz, and either senior quad-captain Ben Smith or sophomore Peter Bromka - will attempt to shave off the seconds necessary to reach the 10:20.00 NCAA provisional mark.
The 4x400-relay team is 1.96 seconds off NCAA qualifier, a time they could make up this weekend when the speedy Williams squad descends on the Gantcher Center. Sophomore Patrick Taylor will eye the 42' 6'' Division III triple jump qualifier, while sophomore Adrian Clarke and the rest of the pole vault crew will leap for a 3' 3'' Division III qualifier that is a tangible four inches away for Clarke.
Even those athletes who have made it into the postseason have something to gain from this weekend's competition. If they can better their qualifying times, they can get themselves into faster heats.
"We're using this weekend as an opportunity to get a few more into the postseason but also to get people already in the postseason into higher and better heats," senior co-captain Lauren Esposito said. "The better the heat you're in, the faster people go and the less likely you are to be displaced by a lower heat. Better heats translate into the possibility of scoring points."
On the women's side, there will be at least one interesting match-up this weekend as the team's top two sprinters, junior co-captain Myriam Claudio and sophomore Jessica Trombly, go head-to-head for the first time in the 200 dash. It will be a chance for both to better their postseason qualifying times. The 400 dash will showcase freshmen Claudia Clarke, Sika Henry, Ayako Sawanobori, and sophomore Emily Bersin as they hope to better their qualifying marks.
Esposito, freshman Katie Sheedy, and senior Ellen Adams are also using this last meet to boost themselves into higher seeds and heats - Esposito in the 600, the latter two in the 800.
Those hoping to qualify this weekend include sophomore Sarah St.Pierre in the 600 race and junior Ashley Peterson and senior Heather Ballantyne in the 3000, both only seconds off the 11:08.02 Division III qualifying time. Sophomore Shushanna Mignott will attempt the long jump in hopes of qualifying and will try to improve her qualifying time in the 55 dash as she comes off an injury. Finally, the herd of 55 hurdlers - freshman Melissa Graveley, sophomores Amy Spiker, Trombly, and Jillian Williard, and senior Sarah Leistikow - hope for faster times.
For both the men's and the women's squads, Williams College will provide the toughest competition at this weekend's class on the track. The women have noted that Williams are strong in the middle and long distance events as well as in the throws and triple jump. Other teams making the trek to Tufts will be Bates, Plattsburgh, SUNY New Paltz, Bryant, and Stonehill, all providing a healthy dose of competition for two strong Jumbo track teams.
"Given that the meet is non-scoring, we don't need to fill every event. The strategy is to stay healthy and finish Saturday on a high note as we head into the postseason," coach Kristen Morwick said.
The third and final Tufts Invitational is slated to get under way at 11a.m. on Saturday.
