With no rain, wind or cold chill to restrain it, the men's track team showcased its true abilities for the first time this season under the warm sun and clear blue skies at the UMass Lowell Invitational.
Coach Ethan Barron took advantage of the opportunity to stretch his team's legs, and was largely impressed with the results from his squad.
"It was a great performance all-around," Barron said. "It was a step in the right direction, and it showed how capable of a team we really are. I think it was a good opportunity to see some guys break out, and also, it shows we are getting ready to be at our peak form by NESCACs."
Senior tri-captain Matt Lacey was quick to agree with Barron.
"It was a good step in our progression," Lacey said. "The weather was nice and that made it a lot easier to run better times than in previous meets where the weather was bad."
And better times were exactly what the Jumbos turned in. Improvements were visible throughout all the events, but once again, the performance of the middle-to-long distance runners highlighted the weekend.
Sophomore Chris Kantos (9:27.41) and junior Joshua Kennedy (9:34.57) finished first and fourth in the two-mile run. Senior Patrick Mahoney finished fourth in the 800 meters, coming in with a time of 1:56.86. In the 1,500 meters, senior tri-captain Matt Lacey (3:58.21) and senior Matt Fortin (4:03.44) topped off the team performance by finishing second and fifth.
"Everyone really did great," Lacey said. "All the times were up there and we performed really well against stronger competition. But I also think that the nice weather played an important role in the improved times."
Like the Hillside Relays, held Apr. 6-8 at Tufts, the meet was unscored, and team points were not calculated, as the event served largely as a benchmark to evaluate individual performances.
While impressive performances could be found all over the roster, junior Fred Jones stood above the pack in what has been a recurring trend during his three years on the Hill. Jones participated in four events and finished in the top five in each of them. Usually known for his specialty in the jumping events, Jones placed fourth in the 100 meter dash with a time of 11.70 and finished third, along with sophomore Nathan Scott and freshmen Colin Fitzgerald and Marvin Walker, in the 4x100 meter relay.
Jones also placed predictably well in his jumping events, taking second in the long jump (23-03.50) and third in the triple jump (44-11.00), respectively.
"Everyone expects great things out of Fred," Lacey said. "It's difficult when you have great expectations put on you, but he went out there and performed really well. He still has yet to hit his top form, which he'll probably do in May."
Jones was slightly more critical of himself than his teammate.
"I'm disappointed in my performance," Jones said. "My long jump was pretty good, but my triple jump was definitely not my best jump."
Jones cited his participation in running events as a possible hindrance on his jumping distances.
"I've been racing a lot," Jones said. "I don't think I'm going to be doing any more races, so that will allow me to concentrate on my jumping, and I'm optimistic that I can qualify for Nationals."
Despite the improved performances, the Jumbos know that with NESCACs less than two weeks away, they are going to have to start reaching optimal form soon. This may not be easy, however, as the Jumbos are coming up on an extremely stressful stretch in their schedule. They will be racing in three meets in the coming week, culminating in the all-important NESCAC Championships, to be held at Bowdoin on Apr. 29.
"We're going to set it up so that the people who run in the Penn Relays [Apr. 25-28] won't be running in the Dartmouth Invitational [on Saturday]," Barron said. "This way, we should still have enough strength to perform well at NESCACs."
