Nate Scott, Men's Track and Field
Senior quad captain Nate Scott helped lead the men's track team to its first Division III New England Championship since 1991 over the weekend, winning his second straight NEC pentathlon championship, and setting a new school, facility and meet record in the process.
Scott scored 3,583 points, surpassing the previous meet record of 3,572 points set by MIT's Craig Mielcarz in 2001. Scott added to his own school record, set at the 2006 New England Championships, by an impressive 168 points, and he beat the previous facility record, set by St. Lawrence's Robert Ames in 2003, by 80.
Scott also finished fourth out of 14 competitors in the high jump, with a leap of 1.87 meters. Overall, Scott contributed 15.5 of the team's 118 points. The Jumbos' next-closest competitor was MIT, with 101. This year marked the first in 17 years that neither MIT nor Williams has won the championship.
Scott's next goal will be to qualify for the individual national championships and to be named as an All-American. Next up for the men's track team are the Open New England Championships at Boston University this weekend.
Kaleigh Fitzpatrick, Women's Track and Field
Despite battling an illness, senior co-captain Kaleigh Fitzpatrick helped the women's track and field team win its first New England Div. III Championship in the 19-year history of the event over the weekend.
Fitzpatrick was involved in numerous point-scoring events for the Jumbos, including a third-place finish in the 200-meter dash for six points, a second-place finish in the 400-meter dash for eight points, and the leading position in Tufts' 4x400 meter relay team, which finished second, good for eight points. Fitzpatrick also finished in fourth position in the triple jump with a distance of 10.64 meters, adding five more points to the Jumbos overall winning score of 136 points. In total, Fitzpatrick was a part of four events and contributed 27 of Tufts' total points.
Fitzpatrick has been a consistent source of points for the Jumbos this season. She has excelled in the 55, 200, 400 and 600 meters, as well as the triple jump and several relay teams. On February 2, Fitzpatrick led the 14-team field at the Tufts Invitational II in the 600-meter dash with a time of 1:38.76. She has reeled in 10 top-five finishes this season as well as a top-10.
This weekend, Fitzpatrick will look to do some more damage at the Open New England Championships at Boston University, and pending success, she will have the opportunity to compete at both the ECAC and NCAA Championships in future weekends.
