Tufts grabs twelfth in All-New England's

According to men's track coach Connie Putnam, "when you face elite competition, and you gear up to meet that competition, you are going to get exceptional results."

That was mostly the case for his team this weekend at Boston University, where the squad finished tied for 12th in a field of thirty at the All-New England Championships.

Freshman Fred Jones' New England title in the triple jump paced the Jumbos, who, along with Springfield College, finished with 22 team points, one behind rival MIT. Division I UConn dominated the event, which featured schools from all three divisions, with 162 points.

Jones continued to set the bar higher and higher in the triple jump after breaking his own school record last week at the Division III New England Championship at Bowdoin with a championship jump of 14.28 meters (46 feet, 10.25 inches). He topped that on Friday, jumping a 14.34 in the trials before winning with a 14.64 (48-0.25) leap.

"[Winning a New England Championship event] doesn't happen every day to a freshman," Putnam said. "He was able to stay calm and focused, and he got the upper hand over the field."

All of his jumps but one warm-up were over 14 feet for Jones, whose win gave the Jumbos their first All-New England event win since they captured the 4 x 400 relay title in 1996. Jones also finished fifth in the long jump with a 22-06.25. Jones' two jumps accounted for 14 of Tufts' 22 points.

In the 5000 meter race, two of the Jumbos' three participants broke personal records. Junior Nate Brigham claimed fifth place and set a school record with a 14:33.34, while sophomore Matt Lacey was also sharp with a 14:55.9.

"Nate was phenomenal," Putnam said. "I'm happy to see a more modern athlete hold that record."

Brigham was also happy with his time, although not with his race.

"I really didn't have that great of a race," he said. "I didn't have a lot of pop in my step, and for some reason my confidence wasn't that high. My splits were even, but I think I could have run faster."

Brigham largely attributed his time, which may give him a chance to race in the NCAA's, to the fast track and tough competition.

The third Jumbo to run the 5k, freshman Josh Kennedy, was running in a pack with Lacey for awhile but experienced misfortune when he was accidentally spiked from behind, taking his shoe off at about the two mile mark. Kennedy ran about half a mile in one shoe and one sock before dropping out.

"He was blistering pretty badly," Putnam said. "He would have finished, and still had a very good time, but it wasn't worth it."

Kennedy, who subsequently had to be scratched from the 3000, was not the only Jumbo who experienced some difficulty. Junior Ray Carre was tripped up and fell in the 400 before quickly popping back up and finishing with a 55.50, the slowest time on the board.

"It's a shame, because I think he could have had a national qualifying time there," Putnam said. "But it's water over the dam now."

Carre was unfazed, however, and bounced back to contribute to two highly successful relay efforts.

In the Friday night distance medley relay, a team of sophomore Matt Fortin, Carre, freshman Nate Cleveland, and Brian MacNamara produced a national provisional qualifying time of 10:09.5, which doubled as the second fastest in school history.

While the time probably won't hold up for NCAA's, it does earn the Jumbos the top seed, and thus a faster heat, at this weekend's ECAC's, which should give them a good chance to improve that time.

Carre and Cleveland also ran on the 4 x 400 relay team which produced the third fastest time in school history, 3:18.7. Sophomores Pat Mahoney and Trevor Williams ran the other two legs for Tufts.

The 4 x 800 team also scored the third fastest time in Jumbo history, a 7:51.36, thanks to solid efforts by freshmen Scott Merrick and Dan Sullivan sandwiched between superb opening and closing efforts by junior Aaron Kaye and Fortin.

In the 55 meter hurdles, junior Nate Thompson was the last qualifier for the nine man finals, but in the championships he posted a sixth place 7.83, his second fastest time of the year.

In the mile, sophomore Kyle Doran ran a 4:18.07, the sixth best time in school history.

Slightly disappointing for Tufts was Dan March's 51-04.25 throw in the weight throw. "He had an average day," Putnam said. "It was the first time he went into a meet a little too rested and a little too psyched up. His timing was just a little bit off and that can make a big difference."

In the pole vault, sophomore Seth LaPierre had an impressive day, clearing 15 feet for the first time in his Tufts career to place him in a four-way tie for seventh.

"We had a pretty remarkable weekend," Putnam said. "The guys are in great shape, the great facility psyched them up, and the D-I guys psyched them up. It was pretty easy to go over there and get motivated."