Two Jumbos qualify for NCAA's in Wisconsin

Usually, the Ramada Inn in Janesville, Wisconsin might not be the most thrilling place to stay.

But junior Nate Brigham and freshman Fred Jones are plenty excited to be there this weekend after qualifying to compete in the NCAA Division III National Championship meet at the University of Wisconsin at Whitewater.

Jones and Brigham were the only Jumbos to proceed to nationals. Jones advanced in the triple jump based on his jump of 48 feet and half an inch at the All-New England's on Feb. 28. Meanwhile, Brigham just snuck into the 5000 meter race as the twelfth and final seed with his time of 14:35.84 (converted from 14:33.34 on a bank track), also achieved at All-New England's.

Jones was virtually assured of making it, but Brigham had to sweat it out a little until Monday night, when the NCAA released its lists of cuts. Usually twelve runners make the cut in the 5000; Brigham was eleventh on the times list heading into last weekend.

"We were definitely watching all the results from everywhere last weekend," Brigham said. "Luckily, only one guy ran a better time than me."

Provisional qualifiers from Tufts who failed to advance were sophomore Kyle Doran in the 1500, junior Dan March in the weight throw, Jones in the long jump, and the 4 x 400 and distance medley relay teams.

The two athletes that Tufts sent to Wisconsin could not be more different in terms of experience: Jones, the rookie, has never experienced the chaos and pressure of a national event, while Brigham is a certifiable veteran, having competed in three national competitions in his Jumbo career. Coach Connie Putnam doesn't think either one will have any problems dealing with the pressure that such a meet brings.

"Nate's matured a lot," Putnam said. "Your first time out you're a little nervous. By your fourth time, you know what to expect and how to handle things."

"By this point, I'm not worried about the pressure and the scale of the meet," Brigham said. "I'm just confident and looking forward to racing."

Brigham has raced in nationals twice for cross country and once in outdoor track. In his first appearance, he earned All-American status by finishing 11th in the nation last fall in long distance, but he has not performed nearly as well in his other two national appearances.

As for Jones, Putnam might be worried if Jones was your typical freshman, but he is anything but. His All-New England title in the triple jump two weeks ago, the Jumbos' first title in that meet since 1996, confirmed this, and he has been calm and cool in just about every meet this season.

"Fred will be fine," Putnam said. "He's always just so relaxed and confident and he always has his wits about him. Plus, jumping's a little easier than running in that regard. He's just going to get out there on the runway by himself and jump"

Brigham won't have it so easy, as he will be challenged in what is shaping up to be an ultra-competitive 5k competition. Several years ago, a 14:46 would probably have sent a runner to nationals; this year, Brigham was the last seed with a time 11 seconds faster than that.

In addition to pure fast times, many of Brigham's adversaries are from Wisconsin and have raced on this track before; six of them qualified for the race on it.

"The race will materialize one of two ways; guys will either come out and be very strategic, or else they will come out and just run nasty from the beginning. I'm not exactly sure how it's going to turn out," Putnam admitted. "Either way, the first person to the finish line wins, so he has to just get out there and keep his wits about him. He doesn't want to get out strategized, but he doesn't want to be behind down the stretch in a field this fast."

"When you change things up, that's when you start running bad," Brigham said. "I'm just going to go out there and do my thing, and if I do that, I should have a happy flight home."

While Brigham wants to run fast on Saturday afternoon, the Jumbos are trying to relax for now. Brigham, Jones, Putnam, and assistant coach Ethan Barron flew out to Wisconsin on Wednesday afternoon and checked out the track. Yesterday Brigham and Jones got a more extended workout at the facilities, followed by the athletes' banquet at night. Today they will watch the first-day events and get in a little practice. Tomorrow, Jones will tackle the triple jump at 10:30 in the morning, and Brigham will run at 5:45 p.m.

"We took our time getting here, so now we have plenty of time to get used to things out here and get our legs back under us [after the flight]," Brigham said.

Last year, the Jumbos finished 36th at nationals, as seniors Greg Divine and Bryan Pitko finished fifth and eighth, respectively, in the 55 meter hurdles.