Although two Jumbos brought home individual NESCAC titles at the championship meet on Saturday, the men's track and field team on the whole did not fare as well, missing out on second place by just half a point in part due to a few injuries to key runners. The Jumbos claimed 116 points at Conn. College, while Bates took second with 116.5 and Williams took first with a final score of 158.5 points.
Junior Jared Engelking had three finishes within the top four, scoring 22.5 points for the Jumbos. Engelking's top finish was his victory in the 110-meter hurdles, outdistancing the field in 15.04 seconds. He also took second in the javelin throw with a distance of 175'1", just six inches behind the winner, Bates sophomore Christopher Murtaugh. He rounded out his day with a fourth-place finish in the pole vault, reaching a height of 13'9", finishing just behind sophomore teammate Sam Read, who finished third with a height of 14'2.75".
"I was very pleased with my performances," Engelking said. "My hurdles were close to my personal record, and it was into a headwind. I set a new personal record in the pole vault, and the high jump was very close to my best."
Senior Phil Rotella took home the other NESCAC title for the Jumbos, winning the 200-meter dash in a time of 22.47 seconds. Rotella, who helped contribute 23 points to the Jumbos' cause, also took second in the 100-meter dash in 11.16 seconds and was the anchor leg of the 4x400 relay. Freshmen Gabe Bourgeois, Ben Crastnopol and Connor Rose accompanied Rotella on the relay team, which finished in 3:24.36 to claim fourth.
"Phil Rotella proved what we already all knew, which is that he is one of the best sprinters in New England, and nothing really says that more than being first and second in the two sprints," junior quad-captain Nick Welch said. "He also anchored the 4x400 in 48.6 [seconds], which is flying."
The Jumbos finished strong in the sprints behind Rotella, placing three scorers in both the 100- and 200-meter races. Junior Andrew Longley accompanied Rotella to score in both events, taking fourth in the 100 and sixth in the 200.
Tufts also had two scorers in the hammer throw, with sophomore Alex Gresham finishing second with a throw of 164'9" and freshman Matt Williams finishing sixth.
Welch and junior Jesse Faller both scored for the Jumbos in two events apiece. Welch took third in the 3,000-meter steeplechase in 9:40.51 and later placed sixth in the 5,000 meters. Faller also had a third-place finish, running a personal record of 3:56.74 in the 1,500-meter run and later taking eighth in the 5,000.
"To be third in the steeple was definitely in the range that I was looking for, and it would have taken a pretty solid PR for me to move up from third," Welch said. "But that said, I do think that I should be running the time that would have taken first or second, but hopefully that will come in the next few weeks.
"In the 5k, going into that second race after running one in the morning, you don't really know what to expect," he continued. "But I think being about to hang in the front group in the heat with tired legs and end up essentially being able to get some points was what I was looking to do."
Senior quad-captain Skip Pagel scored in three events Saturday, taking fifth in long jump, sixth in the pole vault and seventh in the 110-meter hurdles. His performances in both the long jump and the pole vault were new personal records.
"I wasn't seeded to score in any event and ended up coming out with 9 points, so I was pretty happy with how that turned out," Pagel said.
"I know both [Pagel and Engelking] are used to doing many events in their decathlons, but they seemed to bring so much intensity yesterday, and not just intensity, but they were obviously successfully," Welch added. "Both PRed in the pole vault, and Jared won the 110-hurdles. All of that got me and the whole team very fired up. Those are the kind of role models that you look up to and try to follow by example."
The Jumbos must immediately turn their attention to the New England Div. III Championships, to be held at Springfield College this Thursday. The third-place finish at NESCACs, however, was hard to swallow. Although Tufts expected to see a strong performance out of Bates, the loss by a half-point was somewhat of a blow.
"To be a half-point from second leaves you wondering if there was a little more you could do," Welch said. "But I think we have to come away knowing that we did what we could do yesterday, given that we took a few bad breaks in losing a few key guys during the meet who would have been big contributors, and in the last couple of weeks losing a few guys. Bates had a great meet, so we have to congratulate them on that accomplishment."
"We really took a lot of hard hits by a lot of guys being injured, but aside from that, I think everybody just had some amazing performances across the board, which was very fun to see," Pagel added. "I think it was just the most fun meet that I've ever had."
