The Men's Track and Field team will kick off the 2004-2005 season this Saturday when the Jumbos travel to Northeastern University to compete in the Husky Carnival.
The meet is non-scoring and will be a test for what the team can expect from each of its events heading into the season.
As far as sophomore Fred Jones is concerned, this means continuing his dominance of the long and triple jumps.
Jones is the second-ranked triple jumper in the country in Div. III competition, and is expected to be a key contributor to the Jumbos success this season.
The team will also be anchored by senior Nate Thompson who has been a premier long jumper over his career at Tufts.
"Fred is an automatic 10 for us," coach Connie Putnam said. "He is one of the best in the country in the triple jump, and there are not too many competitors in New England who can match his success.
"Nate is also one of our strongest weapons in the long jump. There aren't too many teams who can out-do us in those two events."
The team will also look to its underclassmen to contribute. In the long and triple jumps, the Jumbos want sophomores Aaron Levine and Jessie Gossett to step up. Both Levine and Gossett showed potential to be strong competitors last season, and according to Putman, have potential for improvement.
Putnam also expects the freshmen to play key roles. Freshmen Kenny Kang and Dan Marcy should have immediate impacts on the team based on their strong records in high school competition.
In the high jump competition the Jumbos will look to senior Evan Blaser. Blaser, who didn't compete in high school, has had great success in his career at Tufts, and Putnam believes he will be an anchor in the high jump event.
Levine and Marcy should also play key roles as well as freshmen Jeremy Arak, in whom Putnam sees potential for a strong college career.
"The high jump will be a challenge for us this year," Putnam said. "We've got a lot of younger guys competing for us, but they are working hard and becoming familiar with the event. If they continue what they're doing we should be more than adequate in the event this season."
In the pole vault the Jumbos will be missing their strongest competitor in junior Seth LaPierre, who will be studying abroad. Putnam will look to junior Will Heitmann and Gossett to pick up the slack. Freshman Stephen Fature also looks to be a strong prospect in the event.
The Jumbos will have a strong group of throwers this season, anchored by juniors Jason Galvin and Brandon Udelhofen. Tufts will miss its strongest thrower in senior Dan March, who has taken a semester off due to personal reasons.
The Jumbos will try to make up for the loss of March with strong contributions from returning throwers including sophomores Tyler Groff, Vincent Galatro and Ryan Byrne. Freshmen Nick Gentilli and Joe Brown also could make an impact.
The Jumbos relish the opportunity to compete in the Husky Carnival, but realize it will only be a measuring stick for the team.
"I'm not losing sleep over this meet," Putman said. "We've got a lot of guys still resting from the off-season. We view it as a scrimmage and an indicator of what we will have to work on to be successful for the rest of the season.
"It will be a good chance to see how some of our new and young talent can perform and what they can offer."
