The men's track and field team will be looking for a little redemption when it heads to the NESCAC Championships at Conn. College tomorrow.
The Jumbos will once again look to overtake Williams after taking second by just 12 points at the meet during the 2008 outdoor season. But a host of improved squads could make this meet more than just a two-team showdown.
"It seems like it's pretty strong competition, a lot more than in years past, with both Bates and Bowdoin having a lot more depth all around," senior Phil Rotella said. "We're used to seeing Williams at the top and us trying to catch them, but I think it will be a lot closer this year."
The Jumbos enter the meet with two athletes that have posted top performances all season in the NESCAC.
Junior Jared Engelking holds the top performance in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 14.92 seconds. He also holds the second-best performance in the javelin with a throw of 175'1".
Junior Jesse Faller holds the top performance in the 5,000-meter run with the time he posted last weekend, a 14:26.01. He is also competing in the 1,500, in which he holds the ninth-best performance in the conference.
"I expect the 1,500 to be very competitive, as it was last year," Faller said. "As for the 5k, it being a longer event much more depends on how people are feeling on that given day."
"I think coming in, I'm going to have the best seed time by a lot [in the 5k]," Faller continued. "So when you're established as a runner the way that I am established, you can control the race easier, whether that is by actually being in front and setting the pace or just because other runners are intimidated by you. The intimidation factor can be huge."
Rotella also holds two high rankings in his events. The senior enters NESCACs with the second-fastest time posted in the 200 meters with 22.23 seconds, just .02 behind Williams sophomore Taylor Fitzgerald. Rotella also holds the fifth-best 100-meter time with 11.20, and he has been coming on strong as of late, with both of his season bests coming Saturday at the Dartmouth Invitational.
"The hope is to win these events, the 200 especially," Rotella said. "The 100 depends on who is running it, and for [the] 4x100, the hope is to break the school record."
Rotella is one of five Tufts athletes in the top 15 on the 100-meter performance list. Sophomore James Wheeler holds the seventh spot, followed by senior quad-captains Colin Fitzgerald and Skip Pagel along with junior Andrew Longley, who is tied for the 14th-best time.
"I think we'll do better than our seeds in most of these [races]," Rotella said. "We're definitely planning on Colin Fitzgerald running a lot faster than his seed time, and he's geared up for a big PR or a season best at NESCACs. So we're counting on him to get top five even though his performance is seeded at 14 right now.
"James Wheeler has only run a couple of 100s, and I think he has a lot of potential, and I'm going to look to be competing with him," Rotella continued.
The Jumbos also have a strong showing on the performance list for the 200 meters, with Rotella, Fitzgerald, Longley and senior quad-captain James Bradley all in the top 10.
"We have a lot of good runners in the 200," Rotella said. "Andrew Longley, coming off of a season-long injury, is looking to drop time, and he can run even faster than he did last weekend. Bradley is kind of a wild card because he hasn't run too many 200s, but he's one of our best 400 runners, so he's got the speed and endurance to finish.
"A lot of the guys seeded above us are guys that we have beaten in championship meets before, so we're confident that we can improve upon what our seeds are for some of these events," Rotella continued.
Bradley also holds the second-highest jump this season in the high jump, having won the event last year. Junior Isaiah Paramore and Wheeler follow Bradley in the third and fourth spots, respectively.
Junior Billy Hale will be counted on to score points in middle distance. He holds the second-fastest 800-meter time with the 1:53.49 mark that he ran over the weekend at Dartmouth.
The Jumbos also hold two top-10 spots in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with junior Ryan Lena in fifth with a time of 9:36.97 and junior quad-captain Nick Welch less than a second behind in sixth with 9:37.83. The duo, along with Faller, will hope to give Tufts a leg up in the distance events.
Tufts' throwers are also looking to perform well this weekend, occupying many of the top spots on the performance list. Sophomore Alex Gresham enters the meet with the second-farthest hammer throw, while classmate David Dormon has posted the sixth-farthest throw in the shot put and is followed by freshman Matt Williams. Freshman Luke Lamothe joins Engelking in the top five in the javelin throw.
With a number of performers in prime position to make an impact tomorrow, the Jumbos will be confident as they head to Conn. College.
"We're going into NESCACs with the same mindset that we go into every NESCACs, and that is to try to win," Faller said. "I would guess that we're not favored to win, but I do know that if we are going to win, everyone is going to have to put in a good, solid performance in their respective events. "
