The members of the men's track and field team have one more shot to qualify for Nationals today and tomorrow, as a small group travels to Wesleyan University to compete in the ECACs.
Tufts will send between 10 and 15 athletes on the precipice of the Nationals' requirements. For the Jumbos in attendance, the meet is all about individual achievement.
Senior tri-captain Fred Jones, who has already qualified for Nationals in both the long jump and the triple-jump will not participate this weekend, but is excited about his teammates' chances of doing something special this weekend.
"A couple of people are right on the cusp of qualifying, like [senior tri-captain] Nate Cleveland and [junior] Jeremy Arak," Jones said. "It's going to be tough for them to do it, but I definitely wouldn't be surprised if they pulled off something unbelievable this weekend."
After a strong qualifying heat, Cleveland fell short in his attempt to qualify in the 800 meters last weekend at the New England Championships. With another shot at qualifying, Cleveland hopes to take advantage of his second chance.
"Last week was kind of up and down," Cleveland said. "I ran a season-best in my trial heat; that race really broke the way I wanted it to. But the final didn't go so well. I started out behind and had to try to make up a lot of ground during the race."
Last week wasn't a total failure for Cleveland and teammates, though, as Jones improved his triple-jump distance, and the 4x400 team improved its time by six seconds.
Though he has qualified for Nationals in two events, Jones believes there is more work to be done.
"I'm a little below my goals for the season right now, but I did set some pretty lofty goals," Jones said. "If I meet them at Nationals, I should do really well. It's a big question mark right now, though."
Despite all the stress put on meeting the criteria for Nationals this weekend, the meet is not solely about reaching those qualifying times.
"The national championships are just one aspect of what we're trying to do here," coach Ethan Barron said in an e-mail to the Daily. "Yes, we are trying to qualify as many athletes as possible for the NCAA meet, but we can have many successful performances this weekend that don't result in NCAA qualifiers.
"We have a handful of athletes going to ECACs this weekend to compete in events that don't even exist at the national championships," he continued. "They are going there to better their own personal records and conclude the indoor season on a positive note."
Coming off an impressive showing last week at Boston University's Open New England Championships, the team is hoping to ride the momentum from last week and finish the season on a positive note.
"Last week was a productive meet," Barron said. "It was the first trip to Open New Englands for many of our competitors. Everyone there carried themselves like veterans, which is what we look for at a meet of that magnitude."
Whether they are trying to qualify for Nationals one more time, or simply going for a personal best, the Jumbos hope to have a successful sendoff to their indoor season.
