A great deal of a sport's appeal lies in its unpredictability. Teams can be ranked, athletes can be seeded, but the result ultimately comes down to the dynamics of that particular competition. On any given day, anyone can win and anyone can lose.
The experience of the men's track and field team's five-man delegation at the Div. III NCAA Championships is testimony to that unpredictability. The Jumbos' squad, consisting of seniors Matt Fortin and tri-captain Matt Lacey, junior Fred Jones and sophomores Jeremy Arak and Dan Marcy, emerged with mixed results, finishing in a six-way tie for 33rd place.
Jones kicked off the meet for the Jumbos in the long jump, the first event of the competition and an event in which he finished second at last year's Nationals. Jones won his flight in the preliminary round and moved into the finals ranked third overall. In the finals, he took fourth place with a jump of 7.17 meters, moving up three places from his pre-meet seventh seed. The top three seeds heading into Nationals finished 1-2-3, with Jones taking fourth.
His distance equaled his season-best jump. Jones' fourth-place finish earned him his second All-American long jump title in two years and the sixth in his career.
Jones and teammate Marcy did not find the same success in the triple jump. Jones entered the competition seeded fifth with a distance of 14.45 meters. During the competition, his best mark was an uncharacteristically short 13.78 meters. He finished fourth in his flight and a disappointing tenth overall, missing out on a berth in the final round by one spot.
Marcy found himself in the stronger flight, as six of the seven competitors in his round qualified for finals. He came in 11th overall with a leap of 13.74 meters.
The story was similar for Arak in the high jump. It was a bad day for all 14 qualified high jumpers that came in with marks of 2.03 meters and above; none except winner senior Andy Stoecken of Loras College (2.11 meters), could break 2.02 meters.
"There were a lot of freshmen and sophomores that were at Nationals for the first time," Arak said. "It adds an element of difficulty."
Like the rest of the group, Arak turned in a sub-par performance. On account of his season-best 2.03 meter mark, he entered the competition in a nine-way tie for the sixth-seed. Arak failed to clear the starting height of 1.92 meters in three attempts and finished last among the qualifiers.
"It's always tough to come in at higher heights like the one at Nationals," Arak said. "Most people need a few jumps to find a rhythm, and sometimes when the starting height is so high, it's hard to find that."
Fortin, the seventh-ranked qualifier in the mile run with a time of 4:12.56, also did not fare well.
"In the preliminaries, my race strategy was to run mid-pack and stay comfortable for awhile," Fortin said. "Then in the end I wanted to move up and finish top three and qualify automatically for finals."
Fortin was in the fast heat, and four athletes from his seven-man race bested the old meet record of 4:16.49; however, the added benefit of a fast heat did not improve Fortin's race, and he finished seventh in his heat and last in the field of 14 in 4:21.68. The only other NESCAC competitor, third-seeded junior Mike Davidian of Williams, also failed to qualify for the mile run finals.
"I was in great condition," Fortin said. "My energy levels were just not there, not where they needed to be for me to be able to do what I can do."
Lacey was the last Tufts competitor to take the track, running in the 5k. He entered the meet qualified in tenth with a time of 14:41.28, but emerged last with 15:37.64, one of his slowest times of the season.
For Lacey, one of the best runners in Tufts history, the feeling of unfulfilled promise at Nationals is a familiar one. At last year's outdoor track and field National Championships, Lacey entered ranked second but finished 16th in his race.
"Lacey's race was tough," Arak said. "He put himself in good position but just couldn't pull it off. The 5k is just such a tough race, especially at that level."
That feeling of underachievement permeated the weekend, as uncharacteristically low showings dashed the team's hopes of higher individual finishes.
