On the heels of a decent showing at Bates, the men's track and field team continued to put up consistent performances at the Blue Devil Invite this past Saturday. While the meet was not scored, many Jumbos still put out strong efforts to qualify for the NESCAC championships and other postseason meets.
"I was pretty pleased with the performances this past weekend," coach Connie Putnam said. "The team had been training through pretty hard all week, and I thought that we looked pretty good out there."
The weather at Central Connecticut State University proved draining for the Jumbos. The day began with slight showers, but cleared up for sunny weather at the start of the meet. Winds still lingered however, and this may have affected some runners. The runners in the 100 and 200-meter dashes faced a strong headwind, which slowed down their times a bit more than usual. This wind did not hinder distance runners as much, as the time lost in one straightaway was compensated by tailwind in another.
Runners can qualify for the NESCAC championship fairly easily - the qualification times are lower than qualifying times for other late-season meets. It is more difficult to qualify for post-season meets such as the Division III New England Championships, the All New England Championships, and the ICAAAAS.
Senior quad-captain Greg Devine earned a spot for himself in the NESCACS with a time of 53.63 in the 400 meter hurdles.
In the 200-meter dash, sophomore Matt Rosebrook and junior Bryant Coen had tandem finishes in 12th and 13th place, completing the race within one tenth of a second of each other.
Senior quad-captain and distance runner JR Cruz, along with freshman Nate Brigham had strong finishes in the 10,000 run as well. Cruz and Brigham completed the race in first and second place, with the respective times of 31:40.76, and 31:47.49. Both runners barely missed the cuts to make nationals in that event.
"It was a great race for both of them," Putnam said. "It is notable that Brigham is only a freshman, yet he was about eight seconds behind the national qualifying time. I was very pleased."
Freshman Ray Carre, coming off a strong meet, still remained disappointed with his times this weekend. Carre had an eighth place finish in the 100 dash, with a time of 11.77. Other sprinters had similar performances - Rosebrook and sophomore Carlton Bailey put up decent times in the 100 and 200 dashes and earned themselves NESCAC qualifications.
"I was drained this week from practice," Carre said. " Lots of guys ran well in the sprints, but I wasn't pleased with myself. I was just tired out there."
There was slight disappointment in other meets as well. In the 4x100 and 4x400 relays, some of the handoffs did not go as smoothly as planned. Tufts ended up finishing in fourth and eighth place in those respective events.
Looking to improve in the field events, Tufts put up adequate performances at the Blue Devil Invitational. Sophomore Adrian Clark and freshman Theodore Mancow finished in third (3.59 meters) and fourth place (3.35) in the pole vault.
As the season winds down, coach Putnam is looking for the squad to train through and to keep working hard. With increased pressure both from the team and from the classroom, many will have to increase their efforts to come through for the NESCACS and the other post-season events.
"I think that we're looking pretty positive for the rest of the season," Putnam said. "We're looking very healthy, and we have been training hard at practices. Schoolwork is also weighing down upon them as classes are winding to a close. Though we're weaker in the field events, I'm confident that everybody will perform well in the post-season."
This weekend's Silfen Invitational at Connecticut College will prove to be another opportunity to qualify. The Jumbos will jump at every chance to perform well, as this event will be the last meet will be crucial as it is the final event before the advent of the postseason. The NESCAC Championships will begin the following weekend.
"Each meet is very important, as we have very few regular outdoor season meets," Carre said. "Everybody is trying to work on their times and improve in practice so that they could qualify in the meet."
