Over the weekend, the men's track team put together an impressive group effort in its second home meet of the season. The Tufts Invitational II saw the Jumbos garner a second-place finish with 142 points, just behind Springfield College's 152.5.
"In a meet featuring eight schools, over 800 athletes, and some Division I competition, I thought that we fared extremely well," sophomore Nate Thompson said.
With a successful showing in a highly competitive field this past weekend, it appears that the Jumbos have begun to establish themselves as one of the top teams in the region.
Tufts had some solid performances to lead the way. Among the notable contributors were freshman Ray Carre, who won the 800-meter dash in a time of 1:57.99, and junior captain Greg Devine, who won the 400-dash in 50.32 seconds and the 55 hurdles in 7.83. Senior captain Ben Smith captured the 3000 crown in convincing fashion with a time of 8:45.51. Fellow captain and team leader J.R. Cruz rolled to victory in the 5000, finishing in 14:50.69 and leading a pack of Jumbo runners to take six of the first eight places in the event.
"This home meet proved to our team that we can compete with the top teams in New England," Cruz said. "We feel that we are a top-three New England team. Going into the season, we knew that we had a good team and our confidence has always been high."
This success is due in part to the immediate contributions of some underclassmen in the field events. Thompson, a jumper, produced strong results in the meet, including a fifth-place 13.01m finish in the triple jump and a third-place showing in the long jump with a distance of 6.40m.
"Like the rest of the team, I feel very confident when I get to compete in familiar surroundings," Thompson said.
In the pole vault, Adrian Clarke continued his strong season as he cleared a height of 3.88m to finish in second place. As demonstrated by this weekend's meet, the Jumbos have developed a good balance between success on the track and in the field events.
"Early on, we were unsure about our abilities in some of the field events, but many underclassmen have stepped up," Cruz said. "We've gotten great help from Adrian Clarke, Patrick Taylor, and Nate Thompson."
The talent and depth of this Jumbo line-up has been further illustrated by strong showings in the relays - events that rely heavily on a joint effort from a number of runners. In the distance relay, the Tufts "A" team ran its way to a second-place finish in 10:31.41, while in the 4 by 400 relay, Tufts pulled away to capture the title over Springfield in a time of 3:23.96.
Next up is this weekend's home meet, necessary for the Jumbos to get qualifying times for the New England Div. III Championships to be held at Bates in two weeks.
"That meet is what we have been working for all year," Cruz said. "We hope to have everyone peaking for that event."
