This weekend the Jumbos have two more chances to ascend to track and field's main stage.
The men's track and field team will compete in tonight's Trinity Last Chance meet, held at Yale, followed by tomorrow's IC4A Championships at Boston University. Though several individual athletes will compete, all eyes will be on the relay teams this weekend.
"This weekend, our main goal is to qualify the 4x400 [meter] and DMR [Distance Medley Relay]," said sophomore Jeremy Arak, a high jumper.
The DMR squad, composed of senior tri-captains Trevor Williams, Kyle Doran, and Matt Fortin, along with classmate Patrick Mahoney, has yet to provisionally qualify for Nationals. This type of 11th hour pressure is a new phenomenon for the DMR team.
"We qualified the DMR for Nationals this time last year, but they were already previously provisionally qualified," Arak said. "We haven't had to qualify relay teams at the last minute for the last couple years, so we'll see what happens."
Doran, however, feels the DMR will likely be successful this weekend.
"I feel like we have a really good shot," the senior said. "A lot of teams will be trying to qualify, but Mahoney is amazing in the 800, and Fortin is just flying in the mile."
The DMR will run in tonight's meet, while the 4x400 team will take to the track tomorrow.
"Mahoney runs in both relays," Arak said. "So we are running in both meets to give him a chance to run the two races on different days, so he can have a chance to rest and perform better."
The 4x400 squad provisionally qualified for Nationals at last weekend's All-New England Championships at BU and is currently ranked 16th with a time of 3:20.51, almost a second slower than that of 2005's last National qualifier. This weekend, however, the Jumbos will field a stronger squad.
"Last weekend the 4x400 provisionally qualified, even without Mahoney. He was running the 800," Arak said. "We are hoping that they will qualify for Nationals with him there."
Athletes in individual events will also try to improve upon their marks in hopes of qualification. As it stands, five Jumbos look secure for Nationals qualification.
"[Senior tri-captain Matt] Lacey should go in the [5,000 meters], Fortin in the mile, [junior Fred] Jones and [sophomore] Dan Marcy in the jumps, and myself in the high jump," Arak said. "If we qualify both relays, up to 11 guys could feasibly go."
Arak's own qualification in the high jump is unlikely to be upset this weekend. The top four qualifiers currently have marks above Arak's of 2.03 meters, but the next seven are tied at that height. As with the other events, the top 12 qualifiers and any ties are awarded bids to the National Championship.
"Even if a couple guys over the weekend exceed my mark and push me out of the top 12, I will still go because they will take all athletes who have hit the 2.03 meter mark," Arak said.
