Captains battle out hurdles as men's track falls to MIT, Bowdoin

Perhaps feeling the lethargic effects of a long, early morning bus ride to Maine, the men's track team placed third behind powerful foes MIT and host Bowdoin on Saturday. But while the scoreboard depicted MIT's 30-plus point victory, as the Jumbos finished third of the four teams, the meet featured many closely contested races, leaving Coach Connie Putnam optimistic on the return journey.

"We stayed very close, and it was a high echelon meet," Putnam said. "Those might be four of the top five schools in New England. It was a very worthy meet to be in."

The Jumbos also competed against Springfield College for the second straight week, holding their own in many events. Senior tri-captains Bryan Pitko (7.65) and Greg Devine (7.69) battled out the top spots in the 55 meter hurdles, both finishing with NCAA qualifying times. This marks the second consecutive week Devine has notched a NCAA qualifying time in the event. Sophomore Nate Thompson finished fourth.

Fellow senior tri-captain Adam Sharp (2:36.44) triumphed in the 1000, his third victory of the semester, following wins in the 800 and 1500 in the last two meets. The three captains' strong results have played an important role in the team's success so far.

"Lots of the kids have good performances and everyone is important," Pitko said. "Hopefully [our results] light a fire under them and motivate them to what they can achieve."

Nevertheless, despite the tri-captains' results, the team was not at full strength. Devine pulled up injured following the 55 dash and was scratched from the 200. Senior Bryant Coen, who has played a valuable role in the team's two wins this season, did not race due to an Achilles injury.

"With a healthy Greg and a healthy Bryant, we would have had a few more valuable points," Putnam said. "But we stayed close, despite not getting big points when we needed, and were very evenly matched with Bowdoin."

Grad Adam Carberry, who finished tenth in the 600 (1:30.08), experienced a slightly wild ride during his race.

"There was a lot of banging out there, and Carberry was stepped on and elbowed three or four times," Putnam said. "The judges were a bunch of octogenarians; in fact one or two were nonagenarians, short-sighted at best, and very much working for Bowdoin."

Despite the final score, the team was encouraged by the close match ups and determination. Inexperience proved to be the main difference between the Jumbos and the other top New England schools such as MIT and Bowdoin, both of whom boast large contingents of track-tested seniors.

Nonetheless, the team received support from several freshmen, including Ben Harburg and Kyle Doran. Harburg filled in for the second place 4x400 team (3:26.99) and Doran (15:43.53) finished sixth in the 5000.

"Harburg was in limbo out there, but ran a heck of a leg filling in," Putnam said. "Doran kept up with the leaders for a while, and even though he ran out of steam, he ran a gutsy, courageous race."

Sophomore Ray Carre, who won the 400 (50.29) and finished fifth in the 200 (23.26), agreed.

"I was very proud, everyone had a job to do and went out and did it," Carre said. "The times people have been running have been phenomenal.

"I've got a lot more training to do for the 200, I'm not very quick out of the blocks. A lot of the advantages people have is their starts."

Freshman thrower Jason Galvin threw past 40 feet in both the shot put and weight throw for the first time in his career, and sophomore Dan March consistently topped 45 feet in the weight throw.

"Forty feet is a good barrier to get across," Galvin said. "All the throwers should see a lot of improvement in the next two weeks with two home meets coming up."

With next week's home meet featuring a host of teams from New England and beyond, including potential force Ithaca, Putnam was encouraged by the team's performance.

"I left [Bowdoin] encouraged, knowing this is a very young team and the others were much older, experienced teams," Putnam said. "I told them 'let's just go up there and not get too emotional over it', and head to head, it was tightly contested all day."

The men's track team competes this Saturday, Feb 8 at 11a.m. at the Gantcher Center.