As the end of the indoor track season approaches, the men's track and field team has increasingly fewer chances to break records, set personal bests and qualify for nationals. This weekend, at the All-New Englands at Boston University, the Jumbos took full advantage of opportunities to do just that, setting several career bests, shattering one school record, and provisionally qualifying a few for nationals.
Boston University has a banked track, which can shave time off the sprints, but can make distance running slightly more challenging. Yet, as the end of the indoor season approaches, the runners are in the top form required to set records regardless of the track.
In addition to several individual accomplishments, the Jumbos placed 10th out of 36 schools at the meet. Their finish was impressive considering the stiff Div. I, II, and III competition they faced.
The Jumbos even racked up more points at the meet than Williams, who edged out Tufts in the New England Div. III Championships last weekend on their way to a first place finish. This weekend, the Ephs placed 16th with 12 points.
Tufts finished the meet sandwiched between ninth place rival MIT, who earned 30 points, and fellow Div. III program Bates, who finished 11th with 20 points.
Although many Jumbos set career records, most of the team's points this weekend can be attributed to sophomore Fred Jones. He handled his competition, jumping his way to a second-place finish in both the long jump and the triple jump (7.06 and 14.10, respectively). His distance in the long jump was his second best career performance. His two impressive finishes earned the Jumbos 16 of their final 23 points.
The 1000 was the most remarkable event of the weekend for the Jumbos. Senior Aaron Kaye earned two points for Tufts in the 1000 finals with a seventh-place finish (2:30.10). Kaye's race was the biggest of the meet for the Jumbos. His preliminary time of 2:28:93 obliterated the Tufts school record set in 1982 (2:29.32, by Paul Murray).
"I was strictly going for time," Kaye said. "So when a lot of the people were thinking about position, I was thinking about time. I took the lead on the second lap because I wanted to push the pace, so I pushed it to keep my pace pretty level and just give everything on the last two laps."
"I didn't ever expect to be running for a school record," Kaye added. "So it was definitely very exciting to do it for all my teammates. My coach was pretty excited for me."
Although Kaye did not anticipate his record time, Coach Connie Putnam was anticipating a strong performance from him.
"By and large, we had some pretty good performances," Putnam said "The most exciting event of the weekend was Kaye's school record time in the 1000. I saw that coming, so I was really excited to see it happen."
Junior Trevor Williams placed 15th in the 400 meter dash preliminaries (50.56 seconds), but could not earn the top 10 time required to advance.
In the 800 meter preliminaries, junior Patrick Mahoney placed 13th (1:54.49), provisionally qualifying for Nationals as well as breaking his career record and marking the first time he's raced under 1:55. Mahoney's time is the second fastest in Tufts history in the event. He was less than half a second away from finishing in
the top nine and advancing to finals.
The sprints weren't the only events that marked career bests for Tufts runners. In the distance events, several Jumbos set career records.
Junior Matt Fortin placed 12th in the 1 mile preliminaries with a personal best (4.16.24). Senior Brian McNamara also shattered his own personal record and finished 15th (4:18.99).
Sophomore Ciaran O'Donovan placed 15th in the preliminaries (2:31.55), with a personal best time only three seconds behind Kaye's record-breaking run.
Senior Michael Don placed 17th in the 3000 (8:42.77).
In the 5000, Matt Lacey ran a personal best and finished fourth (14:42.83). In addition to earning five points for his team, he improved his provisional qualifying time and increased his chances of going to Nationals.
Senior Nate Brigham placed 14th in the 5000 meter run (15:04.76) and sophomore Josh Kennedy placed 17th (15:08.65).
Sophomore Jamil Ludd placed 13th in the 55 meter hurdles semifinals (8.11). Nate Thompson placed 20th in the 55 hurdles preliminaries (8.38).
The Tufts 4x400 relay team placed ninth (3:20.57), only .09 seconds behind the last team to earn points. It was the fastest time this season for the team of Williams, Mahoney, freshman Nate Scott and sophomore Nate Cleveland. The 4x800 team finished in 11th place (7:53.89).
The Distance Medley Relay (DMR) team placed 13th (10:30.75). The young runners were trying to gain experience and ran impressively. Nate Cleveland opened the race running 3:09 in the mile leg and handed off his decent positioning to freshman Andrew Gordetsky, who ran the 400 (53 seconds). Gordetsky passed off to Dan Sullivan, who ran the 800 (1:58) and then freshman Ayenda Inyagwa closed the race for the Jumbos in the 1200 leg (4:30).
"We ran a young DMR team, which was experimental, looking towards next year and the year after," Putnam said "They ran very well. A really good performance, I thought, for who they are and where they are in the development."
In some of the field events, the Jumbos weren't as successful. Freshman Jeremy Arak finished 11th in the high jump (1.86 meters). Junior Seth LaPierre struggled in the pole vault.
This weekend, the Jumbos will make a last attempt to qualify more runners for Nationals at the Trinity Last-Chance Invitational, hosted by Trinity at Yale University.
