After two impressive regional performances - a first-place finish at the New England Division III Championships on Feb. 22-23 followed by a fourth-of-58 result at the ECAC Championships last week - the men's track and field team now looks to impress on a national level. The team will send three competitors - senior quad-captains Dan Marcy and Dave Sorensen as well as junior James Bradley - to the NCAA Championships at Ohio Northern University on Friday and Saturday.
Marcy will take part in the triple jump following a dazzling performance at the ECAC Championships, while Sorensen will participate in the mile run and Bradley will contend in the high jump.
The Jumbos had hoped to qualify more athletes for Nationals, but at the same time, they cannot complain about having three qualifiers, especially after last year when only one competitor, then-senior Fred Jones (LA '07), made it.
"I guess we fell a little bit short, but that's not saying anything bad about the team," Marcy said. "Our distance medley relay was hoping to qualify last weekend, and they broke a school record by more than a second, and the team whose record they broke went on to Nationals and were All-American. Since they were on a banked track, they were docked three seconds, so they didn't make it."
Sorensen and Bradley, who both hit provisional marks during the season in their events, found out on Saturday that they had qualified for Nationals.
"It felt pretty good," Bradley said. "It was kind of a long weekend because I was on the bubble. It's definitely pretty cool. A lot of times, they say half the battle is just getting there."
Marcy, on the other hand, knew he qualified when he hit an automatic qualifying mark on Friday.
"I was pretty excited because it was a big personal best," Marcy said. "I've been working hard all year and I thought it was well deserved."
While the team has performed well in the past few weeks, those competing in Nationals stressed that it is an individual competition and that the team's finish is secondary.
"I'd say we don't have a team goal," Bradley said. "Obviously the goal for the three of us is to place in the top eight. That's pretty much it. Hopefully as a team we do well, though, and that will just be the result of us three having a nice day."
"The focus is on us individually to do well," Marcy added. "Team placing at Nationals is pretty hard to predict. Some years, it takes maybe 30 points to place in the top 10, sometimes not. Last year Fred went out and got second in two events and got 16 points overall, and that total was a tie for seventh. I don't think any of us are going in trying to match team placement, but individually we want to place and come home with All-American honors."
Marcy heads into Nationals with the best chance at placing in his event. Of the eight athletes taking part in the triple jump this Saturday, Marcy is ranked fourth based on highest jump of the year.
"I like where I stand," he said. "I actually beat the guy who's ranked third on Friday. My goal is to place in the top three, and hopefully if my technique is down, then I can do that. The jumpers ranked one and two are pretty far away from the rest of the field. It's possible I could beat one or both if I have a good day, but right now I'm just hoping for top three."
Meanwhile, Sorensen and Bradley are both underdogs. Of the 13 competitors in the mile, Sorensen has the slowest qualifying time, while Bradley is tied with two others for the final qualifying mark of the 13 high jumpers. Still, they remain optimistic about their chances.
"I feel pretty good because the high jump is technical," Bradley said. "I feel like there is a lot of movement within the seedings and the final places, so I think I have a good chance."
Tufts' three competitors arrived in Ohio yesterday evening. The team will now get a chance to get acquainted with the track today before competition begins tomorrow and runs through Saturday.
"We're going down there Wednesday and Thursday," Bradley said. "We'll have time to warm up there. We have three or four days, which gives us plenty of time to get familiar with the track and surface."
