There are a lot of ways to measure success, but a runner and a jumper from the same squad hitting the third- and fourth-best marks in the country is a pretty good one.
The men's track and field team achieved that feat this past Saturday when it sent squads to both the St. Valentine's Day Invitational at Boston University and the MIT Invitational.
Senior Matt Fortin led the charge at BU, finishing 14th out of a field of 115 runners in the one-mile run. His time of 4:11.86 seconds shaved almost five seconds off his personal best and was the third-fastest time among Div. III runners this season, provisionally qualifying him for Nationals.
"I won't find out if I definitely made it to Nationals until a bit later, but I feel good about my chances of going," Fortin said.
Fortin's race was a dramatic one. He finished third in his heat, only 0.22 seconds behind the second-place runner, senior Mario Macias of Adams State, and just 0.08 seconds in front of the fourth-place runner.
"The race really came down to the last 200 meters," Fortin said. "I was in sixth and I decided to pass people. I managed to pass everyone but the leader. There was a jostle in the last half-lap and the second-place finisher passed me right at the very end."
As faster competition often pushes runners to higher levels of performance, the high caliber of runners in the event contributed to Fortin's blazing result.
"Being in a fast heat definitely contributed to my time," Fortin added. "It took a lot of pressure off me to lead it. I was able to just run comfortably and saved a lot of energy in the process."
Fortin is the fastest qualifier for the New England Div. III championships, just over a second quicker than the next runner on the list.
"I'm feeling confident for New Englands," Fortin said. "I don't want to underestimate any of the other guys because I know they have a lot more in them. I feel that I'm on the same level as them - if I play my cards correctly next weekend, I think I have a good shot."
Senior tri-captain Matt Lacey finished behind Fortin in 26th-place. His time of 4:15.14 also provisionally qualified him for Nationals. This is Lacey's second provisional National qualification on the BU track, complementing his 5K run earlier in the season at the BU Terrier Classic.
Junior Fred Jones continued his excellent performance in the horizontal jumps, with the fourth-furthest triple-jump mark in the country. He finished seventh in a field of over 45 athletes in both the triple and long jumps, with leaps of 6.84 meters in the long jump and 14.23 in the triple jump, the best marks of the season among New England Div. III institutions.
Jones' weekend marks were not personal bests, but they put him on the right path for the approaching championships.
"My chances are pretty good [for] getting back to Nationals, especially in the triple jump," Jones said. "I have three more weeks to get a solid jump in. And I've been feeling great. I'm right on track where I should be."
It was a day of personal bests at the St. Valentine's meet. Freshman Will Ford set personal records in both the 55-meter dash and the 200-meter dash, provisionally qualifying him for the New England Div. III championships. Fellow qualifiers in the sprints included junior Mickey Ferri, junior LeQuan Hunter, and freshman Colin Fitzgerald.
The 800-meter run was also a strong event for the Jumbos, with senior Patrick Mahoney clocking in at 1:54.81, just narrowly missing the provisional qualification mark. He showed a three-second improvement on his time from the Tufts Invitational III on Feb. 4.
The 4x400 meter relay team of Mahoney, sophomore Nate Scott, junior Nate Cleveland, and senior tri-captain Trevor Williams ran its best time of the season at 3:20.56. The team finished 13th out of 35 relay teams, and was narrowly defeated by fellow NESCAC competitor Bates (12th, 3:20.04).
Personal records were the order of the day at the MIT Invitational as well. Although traditionally a weak event for Tufts, the Jumbos qualified two pole vaulters for New Englands in seniors Rob Lorie and Tim Bassell. Both vaulters set personal records with leaps of 3.96 meters and are tied for eighth place on the New England provisional qualification list.
Going into the New England Championships, Fortin feels Tufts will be well-represented.
"Our strongest events are jumps," Fortin said. "I wouldn't say we have any particular dominance in the other events, but we are able to cover each area."
As Tufts' best jumper, Jones acknowledged the strength of the group.
"I think all of our jumpers are going to play a vital part in our success this weekend," Jones said. "If they jump well, Tufts will have tremendous impact on the results as we go against powerhouse Williams College. If the jumpers show up on Saturday, we expect to pull off an upset."
