For the first time in five years, the men's track and field team was ready to host a home meet during the outdoor season. Then it started to rain.
Coach Connie Putnam made the decision to cancel the meet at around six in the morning on Saturday due to heavy winds and rain. Putnam said the cancellation was made to ensure the runners' safety. Seventeen other schools were slated to participate in the "Tufts Snowflake Classic" meet. The meet will not be rescheduled, and the Jumbos will host their first home meet in half a decade next weekend instead.
The cancellation of the outdoor season's first meet will compress the spring season to three qualifying meets rather than four. Before the cancellation, the team had planned to attend four qualifying meets to give its runners and jumpers as many chances as possible to meet qualifying times and marks.
Sophomore runner Chad Uy commented on the effect of the cancellation to the team's schedule.
"[We're] disappointed because the regular spring season is already so short," he said. "There's so little time to race."
He also acknowledged that the rainy conditions would have likely made qualifying times difficult.
"We're kind of happy because it's still cold, and any rain would've made it miserable out there," he said. "[The rain] would've messed up a lot of times or marks."
As a result of the cancellation, Tufts' five-year long drought of home meets will have to wait one more week. The track hadn't been renovated since its installation in 1990, and the poor condition of the surface made hosting meets impossible.
Putnam said that a track such as Tufts' should be resurfaced after eight years of use.
"The track takes a tremendous amount of abuse," Putnam said.
The administration began to set money aside for the new track some five years ago, and the resurfacing effort began 18 months ago. Putnam said that "the original design was sound," which led to an easier resurfacing effort.
In past years, the absence of an outdoor track has affected training, forcing the team's jumpers inside to the Gantcher Center to practice.
"The track wasn't safe, and the jump areas were very dangerous," Putnam said. "Once you can't jump, you can't hold a complete meet."
Uy said the new track should provide a more hospitable running surface for Tufts athletes and competition.
"It helps to have a new track," he said. "The new surface should be a lot more responsive to our running."
This weekend's meet will begin on Thursday to accommodate a decathlon event. A few of the distance events will be held on Friday, while the bulk of events will take place on Saturday.
Uy said that a home meet should serve to energize the team.
"It's our track," he said. "We're going to put on a good show."
