This upcoming winter 'tis the season for the fastest men on campus. The men's track and field team, anticipating a successful season, jumpstarts its 2005-06 indoor campaign on Saturday at the Northeastern's Husky Carnival.
Looking at both our distance and sprinting squads, this is the most balanced attack that any Tufts track and field team has had in years," coach Ethan Barron said.
"I really think we can win New Englands," junior David McCleary said.
The team is a combination of seasoned returning runners and promising new talent. Led by senior captains Matt Lacey, Trevor Williams and Jason Galvin, it also features two-time indoor All-American jumper junior Fred Jones and cross country All-American junior Josh Kennedy. Ten out of the 15 point scorers from last year's Div. III championships are returning.
"We're definitely excited about this season," McCleary said. "There are a lot of returning juniors and some talented new freshmen who will really help."
The distance side, anchored this year by Lacey, Kennedy, sophomore Chris Kantos and senior Matt Fortin, has traditionally been a strong part of the team. This trend does not look to change, as the distance squad has many cross country runners coming off Tufts' best finish in Nationals in the history of the program.
"Tufts is historically stronger in middle distance running and up," Barron said. "The cross country input definitely helps."
Although the sprint side is often overshadowed by the long distance crew, Barron believes this sector is growing stronger. Standout sprinters include juniors Jamil Ludd and Mickey Ferri, sophomores Marcus Boggis and Nathan Scott and freshman Will Ford.
"Sprint squads tend to be a little younger," Barron said. "With sprinting, it's a war of attrition with your body more than anything else. Whichever team can retain the most people all four years will be more successful."
Field events also look could be improved. Led by Galvin and senior Brandon Udelhofen, the throwers now have their own throws coach and should certainly stand to benefit from the more personalized attention. Jumpers to watch for include Jones, sophomores Jeremy Arak and Dan Marcy, and freshman Theodore McMahan.
"Horizontal jumps [triple and long jumps] have especially improved," Barron said.
There has been a change of guard within the track and field team. Following the unexpected retirement of head coach Connie Putnam after 21 years as coach, former assistant coach Barron has taken the reigns. The experienced leadership in distance runners helped the transitions helped the transitions between coaches.
"The younger athletes - sophomores and juniors - have also taken on leadership roles that they may not have taken if Connie [Putnam] had not retired," Barron said. "It's benefited the team a lot."
By all accounts, it was a smooth transition.
"He [Barron] is just doing an awesome job," McCleary said. "We're all really happy with the way things are going."
