The men's track team was fully twice as good as the nearest competition at the Tufts Invitational III this weekend.
The Jumbo squad coasted to victory with 165 points, topping second-place finisher UMass Lowell by 87 points. With some stellar individual performances highlighting the runaway victory, the team now sets its sights on the Div. III New England Championships.
"We have athletes qualified for New Englands in every single event except pole vault," coach Ethan Barron said. "And we expect to qualify an athlete in pole vault next weekend."
During the weekend's meet, the Jumbos were strong in the middle distance events, placing two runners in the top eight in each event to score points. In the 400 meter dash, senior tri-captain Trevor Williams placed second in a time of 51.53 seconds, accompanied by sophomore Nathan Scott in sixth (52.27). Seniors Patrick Mahoney, an All-American in 2004-05, and Matthew Fortin both finished as runners-up in the 800 and 1000 meter runs, with times of 1:57.92 and 2:30.16, respectively.
They were followed by junior Dan Sullivan in fourth in the 800 (1:58.89) and sophomore Matt Alander in fifth in the 1000 (2:37.70).
"Dan Sullivan and Matt Alander are up and coming," Barron said. "Both athletes have been [setting personal records] almost every single weekend."
The team shed the pattern of second-place middle distance finishes when junior Nate Cleveland raced to first in the 600 in 1:24.01, finishing 0.42 seconds ahead of second place sophomore Steve Stanley of UMass Lowell. Freshman Marcelo Norsworthy finished sixth, running a time of 1:25.24.
Tufts' middle distance success translated to success in the relays, with a victory in the 4x400 meter relay and a second-place finish in the 4x800.
While Tufts easily dominated the weekend's competition, the Div. III New England Championships will present more of a challenge.
"The level of competition is a step up," Barron said. "There are higher level teams and higher level individual athletes."
The track and field program, however, is designed to have athletes peak at the right time, and Barron hopes that the runners' training regimen and his strategic decisions throughout the season should have the Jumbos at their best.
"It's a progression since September," Barron said. "We don't alter our tactics going into New Englands or Nationals. The athletes' current training will allow them to perform their best at the championships."
Junior Fred Jones continued his undefeated run in the horizontal jumps, leaping 6.89 meters in the long jump and 13.78 in the triple jump, with sophomore Dan Marcy finishing second in the triple jump (12.94). Jones, last year's national runner-up in the long jump, holds the school record for both events and is already provisionally qualified for this year's national championships.
"The hardest thing to do is get to Nationals," Jones said. "We don't want to look ahead and predict performance at Nationals before we know if the athletes made it. We won't know who has a firm bid until the Monday before the competition."
Jones also gave a solid performance in the 55 meter dash, finishing fifth of a field of 51 sprinters in a time of 6.80 seconds.
Junior Jamil Ludd qualified for the finals in the 55 meter hurdles in third place in 8.15, but ultimately finished sixth in the final heat.
Tufts' distance runners continued their domination, with senior tri-captain Matthew Lacey, junior Josh Kennedy, and sophomore Chris Kantos sweeping the top three positions in the 3000 meters. All three athletes provisionally qualified for Nationals in the 5000 meters at the Boston University Terrier Classic meet on Jan. 27.
Sophomore Jeremy Arak finished comfortably in second place in the high jump with a leap of 1.88 meters. After a personal-best jump of 2.03 meters at the Dartmouth Relays on Jan. 8, Arak is also provisionally qualified for Nationals.
Senior tri-captain Jason Galvin ensured that Tufts was competitive in the throwing events, finishing third in the weight throw (15.39 m) and fourth in the shot put (13.90).
"That was a huge throw for Jason in the weight throw," Barron said. "He has been consistently setting personal bests. This one was a great result, putting him over 50 feet."
Although the top finishers naturally receive the most attention, Barron feels that there are visible improvements in the athletes away from the spotlight.
"There are a lot of people behind the Fred Jones' and the Matt Laceys who are really starting to come up," he said.
