Men's track and field are kicking it into a higher gear

The men's track and field team has much promise, both this year and in the years to come. With the winter indoor season opening this weekend at Northeastern, the team looks to a large freshman and sophomore crew to perform and produce solid results.

Led by senior tri-captains Gregory Devine, Bryan Pitko, and Adam Sharp, the Jumbos aspire to improve on last season's 11th-place finish in the All-New England Championships, a competition that includes teams from all three New England divisions. Tufts also placed fifth out of 22 schools in New England Div. III competition.

"In any indoor season, our aim is to place as high as we can," coach Connie Putnam said. "To place that high shows that we're very tough."

In a talent-laden division last season, the Jumbos held their own. Last March, the team managed a seventh-place finish out of 45 in the ECAC Championships.

"We had some holes in our lineup last year," Putnam said. "And we're still going to [have them] due to youth. But we've got a good young team looking to contribute significantly as the season develops."

The Jumbos are exceptionally strong in the hurdles. All-Americans Pitko and Devine, who have taken turns breaking school records over the last two years, look to maintain their recent dominance. They will also be expected to lead by example for a group of young athletes.

"We've got a lot of freshmen and sophomores who are extremely talented," Devine said. "The biggest for us as captains is to use our best experience possible and take them above and beyond where they've been before."

That being said, Devine points to work ethic and dedication as the strongest aspects of the team, rather than a particular squad of athletes.

"Assistant coach Ethan Barron has been saying he wants us to give 120 percent in practice," Devine said. "I think we've been giving about 180 percent, and that really says something about the work ethic of the team."

While the sprinters are perhaps the strongest group of athletes on the team this winter, Putnam points to the Jumbos' participation in jumping events as another key element of the team's success. Sophomore Nate Thompson, a long and triple jumper, showed promise last season. He will lead the jumping team along with talented freshman pole-vaulter Seth LaPierre, who is currently out of action with a broken leg sustained in an intramural soccer game earlier in the semester. LaPierre is expected back in around six weeks.

The throwing team consists of a well-rounded group, including a senior, a junior, a sophomore and a freshman. The Jumbos will look to this team to continue to develop as the season progresses.

"We've got one veteran thrower [senior Adam Lukowski], who will give us some age and experience," Putnam said. "It's a very nice little throwing team, a nice group of talent."

Perhaps the most uncertain component of the track team is the distance squad. With several new runners, including freshmen Timothy Creedon, Michael Cummings, Kyle Doran and Matthew Lacey, the team will have an injection of fresh faces into the squad. Following what Devine acknowledges as a largely disappointing cross-country season, the tri-captains will be relying on recently crowned All-American sophomore Nate Brigham and the young distance team to rise to the challenge.

"With our strong work ethic, we'll really be expecting big things from [the distance runners]," Devine said. "We'll be turning to them to improve."

But one thing is for certain: the team will not be short of talent down the track. With roughly 16 freshman and 16 sophomores on a squad of approximately 60 athletes, the Jumbos appear to have a firm foundation on which to continue to develop and prosper. After all, last year's results weren't anything to sneer at.

"Heck," Putnam said as he looked over last season's file. "We weren't half bad."

The men's track and field team competes in the Northeastern Husky Carnival at Northeastern on Saturday, Dec. 7 at 1 p.m.