D?©j? vu.
That's what veterans of the Tufts men's track team must have been thinking as they returned from Saturday's NESCAC championships at Trinity College. In 2003, the Jumbos edged out Bates by one half of a point in order to secure a second place finish behind Williams. This year, nothing changed, as Williams finished in first with 158 points, followed by Tufts with 130 and Bates with 129.5.
The team was hampered in its effort to surpass Williams by the loss of junior jumper and hurdler Nate Thompson, who had been diagnosed with mono earlier that week. Thompson has been a top scorer for the Jumbos in multiple events this season, and his absence severely diminished the team's chances of wresting the NESCAC title away from Williams, which has won the NESCAC in each of the last four years, and eleven of the last twelve.
In Thompson's absence, the rest of the Jumbo squad performed well, coming from behind to secure second place from Bates.
"Thompson not being there really hurt us in terms of points," coach Connie Putnam said. "Given that circumstance, I'm pretty pleased. Everyone went flat-out. The rest of the team had to work doubly hard, and while I'm never thrilled to be second, we had some great performances."
One such performance was delivered by freshman long and triple jumper Fred Jones. Jones led all Jumbos in scoring, winning both of his events with jumps of 21-1.50 feet in the long jump and 46-7.25 feet in the triple jump.
Jones faced stiff competition from Colby standout Xavier Garcia, the reigning NESCAC champion in both jumps, who also won the 100 and 200 meter dashes this year and was the leading scorer in the meet.
"[Garcia] was definitely favored in both," Jones said. "Going against him, it really excites me and drives me to win even more. He's an incredible athlete and I always wish him the best. This time I was fortunate enough to edge him out."
Jones won each event in dramatic comeback fashion; he had been trailing Garcia heading into the last jump of each event.
"There was more pressure, but I knew that they were the last opportunities I had," Jones continued. "I tried to leave everything out on the track and get the victory, and I was able to do that."
Another key victory for the team came in the pole vault, which was won by Tufts sophomore Seth LaPierre. LaPierre captured the event with a mark of 15-00.50 feet. LaPierre's coach described his victory as uplifting for the entire squad.
"LaPierre's win got the team amped up at a point in the meet when we needed some reassurance." Putnam said.
Tufts' third first place finish came in the 10,000, an event which was dominated by Jumbos. Freshman Josh Kennedy won the event and was quickly followed by senior Peter Bromka in second.
The team has put up strong showings in the distance runs all season, and Saturday was no exception. In addition to Kennedy and Bromka's domination of the 10,000, senior tri-captain Peter Jurczynski finished second in the 3000 steeplechase and junior Nate Brigham finished second in the 5000, followed by sophomore Matt Lacey in third.
Brigham's performance was all the more impressive considering that he had run the 10,000 at the Penn Relays on Thursday, just two days before the NESCAC championships.
In an even grittier performance, Brigham went on to run the mile leg of the distance medley relay later in the meet.
"Going into the race, my legs were sore and I was really tired, but I was glad to do it for the team," Brigham said. "I just kept telling myself that it was ok and that one more mile wouldn't kill me."
Brigham overtook several runners on the final straightaway to propel the relay team into fifth place.
"He really bailed us out," Putnam added. "Without Nate's final leg, we wouldn't have beaten Bates."
Tufts throwers also had a successful day, contributing several middle-ground points that would prove to be important. They were led by sophomore Brandon Udelhofen's third place finish in the discus and Dan March's fifth place finish in the hammer throw.
The next tier of the Jumbos' championship season comes this weekend at the New England Division III championships. In what is anticipated to be a very close meet, several teams will be in the hunt for a victory. MIT and Springfield, two of Tufts' fiercest non-conference rivals, will be competing in addition to Williams and Bates.
Tufts will remain without Thompson.
"It's tough losing Thompson, but guys competing this weekend and beyond have to worry about what they can control," Brigham said. "The remaining members of the team are going to compete as hard as they can this weekend."
