January has proven to be a good month for the men's indoor track team. The Jumbos have already hosted and won both the Tufts Invitational I and II, held on the 15th and the 22nd.
Tufts placed 12th out of 36 schools at the Dartmouth Relays on January 9, but the team dominated on its own turf for its next two meets.
In their first invitational, the Jumbos faced stiff competition, including several Div. II schools, but fought hard to earn 233 points and take first place in the competition, with UMass Lowell in second with 184 points.
Tufts then completed the home sweep on Saturday, finishing first place out of twelve colleges competing in the invitational. The squad earned 199 points over the 19 events scored.
The competition was even tougher in all events on Saturday, where the team faced top NESCAC competition. The Jumbos punctuated their team win with a few personal bests, although no team member qualified for Nationals.
Despite having struggled in the sprints, the short-distance runners showed improvement this Saturday. Sophomore Mickey Ferri gave three solid performances for the Jumbos, taking first place in the 200 meter dash with a time of 23.69, marking the first recent Tufts victory in the 200.
Ferri also advanced to the finals in the 55, where he placed fifth and improved his time to 6.79, a personal best, although just short of qualifying for Nationals.
"I want to qualify for the 55, which I was .002 seconds away from [on Saturday]," Ferri said of his personal goals. "It was a little disappointing, but the fact that I was that close just means I think I can do it next week."
The Jumbos also received strong performances in the 400, with junior Trevor Williams winning in a time of 50.84. Freshman Nathan Scott, classmate Andrew Gordetsky, and sophomore Dustin Virgilio placed third, fourth, and fifth, respectively.
The team had high expectations for its distance runners, and they continued their record of success on Saturday.
Junior Matt Fortin won the 1 mile in a time of 4:20.15. His teammates, senior Nathan Brigham and freshman Matt Anderson, were right behind him, finishing second and third respectively.
Junior Patrick Mahoney placed second out of 31 runners in the 800 meter run. Senior Aaron Kaye crossed the finish line almost two seconds later to place third.
Some of the Jumbos' best performances on Saturday were given by field event competitors. In nearly every field event, a Jumbo finished in the top four.
Sophomore Fred Jones continued to live up to his reputation as one of the foremost Div. III jumpers in the nation. He won the long jump with a mark of 6.61, as well as the triple jump with a mark of 13.86.
Jones already qualified for Nationals in the triple jump in the season's first meet.
Freshman Jeremy Arak placed third in the high jump, reaching 1.93 and tying his personal best. Freshman Nathan Scott placed fifth, and senior Evan Blaser was sixth.
"The freshman class could really strengthen our field events," assistant coach Ethan Barron said. "Which is big, because you don't win track meets on the track, you win track meets with the field events."
Sophomore Jamil Ludd finished second out of 17 competitors in the 55 hurdles, and senior Nate Thompson finished in third. Sophomore David McCleary finished seventh, and all three Jumbos advanced to the finals, where Ludd finished first to win the event and set a personal best.
Tufts won the 4x400 relay event in a time of 3:26.75. The winning combination was Cleveland, Williams, Mahoney, and freshman Nathan Scott.
Tufts entered two teams in the distance medley, and placed second and seventh out of eighth teams. The second-place team consisted of Kaye, Fortin, Ferri, and Doran.
Sophomore Justin Henneman posted a height of 3.80 in the pole vault to take fourth place. Junior Seth LaPierre, who won this event in Tufts' first invitational, no-heighted, as did junior William Heitmann.
Six Jumbos competed in the shot-put event, and sophomore Ryan Bryne had the best result, placing third with a distance of 14.49. Byrne won the shot put in the first Tufts Invitational. Junior Brandon Udelhofen placed fourth in the weight throw with a distance of 14.09.
In the first invitational, Tufts took the top three places in both the triple jump and the 3000. Brigham finished first in the 3000 and was followed by junior Matt Lacey in second and Fortin in third. Jones won the triple jump with leap of 13.89, with Scott taking second and freshman Dan Marcy placing third. Jones also won the long jump.
Considering the strong performances from the talented freshman class as well as the returning competitors, the team seems poised for a successful season.
This weekend, the Jumbos split up to compete at Boston University in the Terrier Classic, and at Bowdoin in a four-way meet with Springfield and MIT.
