For the past two years, the men's track and field team has finished second in the New England Championships. But this weekend, Tufts has a chance to take home the crown for the first time since 1991.
"The team goals from the beginning of the season have obviously been to win the championship," sophomore Andrew Longley said. "We hope everyone on the team has strong, solid performances and places well."
But the task at hand for the Jumbos is a difficult one. Not only will Tufts have to perform well against a strong Williams squad, but it will also have to take down the MIT powerhouse that beat it at its last scored meet, the Feb. 2 Bowdoin Invitational. At the meet, Tufts finished second out of five teams, compiling a respectable score of 107 points. MIT, however, trampled the competition with an eye-popping 240 points.
Not only was the Engineers' total more than twice Tufts' tally, but it was also more than the scores of the third, fourth and fifth place teams combined.
"It's going to be a really hard meet, with extremely tough competition," Longley said. "For the first time in a few years, neither Tufts nor Williams is the favorite. MIT is the favorite. It's going to be really tight between these three teams."
But the Jumbos will have the advantage of being at home. The meet will take place at Tufts' home track, the Gantcher Center, which should provide the squad with an edge against their stiff competition.
"I think it helps a lot that the meet is at home," Longley said. "It's the track we practice on everyday, and we'll have a bigger fan base than we would have at Bates or Williams or some place like that. At the same time, we're still going to have to work just as hard, if not harder, to defend our home facility."
Indeed, the Jumbos have their work cut out for them this weekend. Not only do the stronger athletes have to finish on top in their events, but Tufts will also need quality performances from their depth if they hope to win.
"We have some people who should be aiming to win their events, and we have others that would love to just get an eighth or seventh and get a few points," Longley said. "The most important thing is to get as many people as possible to score. It's going to be those extra points from people that we don't think will score that will make the difference. Those points add up pretty quickly and could help us win the meet."
