The men's track and field team capped-off its season Friday and Saturday, racing to a second-place finish at New England Div. III Championships held at Bates in Lewiston, Maine.
The Jumbos faced tough competition, and in the end, didn't have enough steam to push past perennial favorite Williams. The Ephs won the all-important championship crown, finishing with a total of 152 points, topping the Jumbos' total of 103. MIT finished at a distant third with a total of 79 points, while Springfield and Bowdoin rounded out the top five with scores of 58 and 46, respectively.
Tufts benefited from strong performances across the board, and while the team fell short of first, several individuals still won their respective races.
"I was very proud of the team's performance this year," coach Ethan Barron said. "It was the fourth-consecutive year that we scored over 100 points at the championships. In those four years, Tufts and Williams have been the only two teams to score in excess of 100 points. It says a lot about a program when you can accomplish that feat four-straight times."
Setting the tone, juniors Nathan Scott and Jeremy Arak took home titles in the pentathlon and the high jump, respectively. Freshmen Jared Engelking and Ikenna Acholonu followed their lead, finishing second and third in the 55-meter hurdles, respectively.
The performances of senior tri-captains Fred Jones and Nate Cleveland also bolstered the club. Despite placing second in the triple jump for the first time in his career, Jones took second in the long jump. Cleveland, on the other hand, finished third in the 800.
Although these placements were not enough to overtake the Ephs, the team was not entirely disappointed with its second-place finish.
"We are disappointed we didn't win," Cleveland said. "It wasn't our best race of the season, but it wasn't our worst either. Even though we got second place, I'm really proud of the manner in which we won it. There were a lot of great gutsy performances, and there is no sense of underachievement in the team."
"Going into this year, we needed Williams to give us the opportunity to beat them," Barron added. "Williams was a little deeper and more experienced than we were this year."
While the end of the indoor season is imminent, the team has plenty to look forward to, as the year was marked by the emergence and growth of a competitive freshman class.
"They were very important to us this season," Jones said. "They are a very talented group and their class has the most representation on our team."
"I was very proud of this year's freshman class," Barron said. "They carried themselves with an experience that you usually don't see from first-year competitors. They were the most dominant freshman class in the region this year."
As the Jumbos look ahead to the final races of the season, the focus will shift from a team-oriented approach to a more individual concentration, as athletes try to reach their personal bests and nationally qualify.
"We only have a couple more meets left," Jones said. "I hope that everyone can just keep competing and doing well in their respective events, and hopefully we can be ready for Nationals."
For Barron, however, there is still more work to be done.
"We have plenty of goals left for this season," Barron said. "We have meets left to qualify for, as well as personal and school records that need breaking. We'll be putting together some talented lineups in the upcoming weeks. It should be an exciting championship season this year."
