After a one-year hiatus from the throne that was theirs from 2004 to 2007, the Williams Ephs regained their kingship over the rest of the men's track and field competition this past weekend at the New England Div. III Championships at MIT, scoring 145 points. Staring at their backs were the defending champion Jumbos and the host MIT Engineers, each scoring 104 points for a second-place tie.
"I thought that Williams had a great meet," junior Jesse Faller said. "They were definitely ready for the meet. They had some key performances, and different events went different ways. There were some events that went well for us and not as well for them, and then other events where it was the opposite and MIT or Williams surprised us."
Despite the fact that Tufts was not hoisting the trophy at the end of the weekend, the Jumbos nevertheless managed to defend three of the New England Div. III event titles that they won last year.
"I think a lot of guys on the team were disappointed with a second-place finish, especially after winning last year, but if you look at the meet objectively, there were a lot of great performances and we did well overall," Faller said.
Faller himself posted two such performances, winning the 3,000-meter run for his second-straight year in 8:41.14 after already claiming second place in the mile with a time of 4:19.42.
"Mile, 3k is generally a pretty tough double," Faller said. "I've never run any double like that before, so I was really happy placing second and first."
"The mile was a lot more competitive than the 3k," Faller continued. "Some very talented runners were in the mile, but I think because everyone was doubling later on in the meet, no one really wanted to push the pace. No one wanted to kill themselves in the mile when they had to come back in other races later in the day, so because everyone had a sit and kick strategy, the race played well into my hands."
Senior quad-captain James Bradley, who has already qualified for Nationals in the high jump, also pulled out a narrow win in the event for his second-straight title with a height of 6'5 1/2". Bradley was supported in the event by junior Isaiah Paramore's fifth-place finish.
The Jumbos also defended their title in the distance medley relay, as the relay team of juniors Scott Brinkman, Trevor Donadt and Nick Welch and freshman Connor Rose took first with a time of 10:28.77.
Tufts also took second and fourth in the pentathlon on Friday. Junior Jared Engelking claimed second with 3,391 points, while senior quad-captain Skip Pagel scored 3,378 to claim fourth.
As two of many Jumbos to compete in multiple events, both Engelking and Donadt returned to the track Saturday after the pentathlon to place fourth and sixth, respectively, in the 55-meter hurdles. Junior Ikenna Acholonu took second in the event.
Also submitting notable performances in more than one event was junior quad-captain Nick Welch, who claimed a second-place finish for the Jumbos in the 5,000-meter run with a 15:15.93.
Unfortunately for the Jumbos, their top competitors also had individuals post multiple strong showings.
"Williams was very impressive," Bradley said. "Just like us, they had all their guys double and triple in events, and they did a very good job. MIT: same thing -- they were very strong and had a good day, so overall the team competition was really good."
Other scorers for the Jumbos included sophomore Sam Read, who placed third in the pole vault with a height of 14'6".
Sam Read really had an awesome meet," Bradley said. "There were a lot of guys at the height that he cleared. He PRed and did it on his first try, so that was why he was in third and not eight or ninth, so that was a strong performance."
