Junior Bryan Pitko finished sixth place in the 55 meter hurdles at the NCAA Division III National Championships on Saturday. The lone representative for Tufts at Nationals, Pitko capped a breakout season with a Tufts record-setting performance.
In the culminating weekend of a long indoor season, Pitko saved his best performance for a meet that featured the nation's top Div. III runners. Starting with Friday night's preliminaries, Pitko put forth an impressive effort, finishing the short-distance race in 7.63 seconds - a new Tufts record.
Pitko, whose time dropped to 7.69 in the finals, earned All-American status with the sixth place finish.
"I was really happy with my performance in the trials. Setting a school record is obviously something that I can enjoy," Pitko said.
Pitko moved on to the finals on Saturday afternoon, in a field that included two of his foes from the ECAC Championships two weekends ago: Enrique Llamos of Montclair State College and Shawn Levinson of the College of New Jersey, also the leading qualifiers in the event. Pitko had finished a close third to Llamos and Levinson at the ECAC meet.
Those runners proved the nation's best; Llamos won the title in 7.46 seconds, while Levinson came in second with a time of 7.53.
For Pitko, the meet's lone Tufts representative, the recognition of All-American was satisfying. "I was pleased with my effort in the final," Pitko said. "Being All-American is a great feeling. I think I can compete with the first two finishers, though."
Head coach Connie Putnam and Pitko made the weekend trip together. Pitko said that despite competing without teammates on hand, their support was important.
"Generally speaking it would have been great having my teammates at Nationals with me," Pitko said. "The good thing was that I heard all of their advice in my head throughout the trials and finals. They were definitely an important part of my success this season."
With Pitko leading the charge as the spring outdoor season begins to take shape, Pitko said he and teammates are anxious.
"I can't wait until outdoor track because I really believe that we can make a significant impact as a team," Pitko said. "We have so many tremendous athletes. I really feel that we can be a major factor at the national level this year. The outdoor season should be filled with an abundance of national qualifiers."
