The men's track and field team opened its outdoor season in a big way Saturday, clinching eight victories at the annual Snowflake Classic at Ding Dussault Track.
The Jumbos used the non-scoring meet to show their strength as well their improvement coming off of their successful indoor season, hitting many NESCAC and Div. III qualifying times.
"The guys look great for the first outdoor meet," assistant coach Mark Carberry said. "We really liked the intensity and the motivation that the team is bringing into the short outdoor season … It shows that we can be challenging for somewhere in the top three of the NESCAC again."
The running events opened for the day with junior Chris Brunnquell posting a personal record (PR) of 32:33.20 in the 10,000-meter run to finish first in the race of 12 athletes.
"To find perfect race conditions for the 10K is difficult, and that certainly wasn't it, but he was able to work hard and persevere and show that he has a chance of placing very high at the NESCAC meet," Carberry said of Brunnquell's race, which he ran alone in very hot conditions.
The Jumbos also performed well in the 400-meter dash, with sophomore Ben Crastnopol taking fifth with a time of 51.26 seconds. Junior Jeff Prunier and senior Dan Stone also performed well in the race, putting up times of 52.88 and 53.04 seconds, respectively.
"I was pretty happy with [my 400]," Prunier said. "We got some good weather for it. It was a PR, so it's always good to see the times drop as the season goes on … I think my race went out a little slow, so I had to adjust mid-race, which I think is an important thing to be able to do.
"I'm coming off of a couple years off, so basically as long as I'm seeing improvements in my races, both mentally how I feel as the race goes and how the time comes out, I'm pretty satisfied," Prunier continued. "As the season goes on, I've felt more comfortable and confident running the races and running through the pain."
The Jumbos dominated the throwing events, with freshman Curtis Yancy winning both the shot put and the discus and junior Alex Gresham winning the hammer throw. Senior Trevor Donadt also claimed two first-place finishes, running 15:58 in the 110-meter hurdles and 56.52 in the 400-meter hurdles.
Tufts also recorded many strong performances in the 1,500-meter run. Senior quad-captain Billy Hale took second in the event with a time of 4:01.84.
"Billy Hale ran great in the 1,500 — 4:01 roughly equates to about a 4:19 mile, and that's a race that he doesn't even train for," Carberry said.
Freshman Sam Haney was the next Tufts finisher in eighth place with a time of 4:05.18.
"Sam Haney ran really well … [His time] was equivalent to a lifetime PR [in the mile]," Carberry said. "That kid has got something special in him that you don't see in an athlete every day.
"[Sophomore] Jeff Prescott ran great to win the second heat [of the 1,500] in a 15- or 16-second PR," Carberry continued. "He really defines what this team is all about — that's working hard, setting reasonable goals and doing everything you can to accomplish them."
Other victories came from seniors Isaiah Paramore in the high jump and quad-captain Jared Engelking in the pole vault.
In the 5,000-meter race, freshman Matt Rand and sophomore Scott McArthur took fourth and fifth with times of 15:27.10 and 15:28.03, respectively.
"Rand and McArthur ran very well, with Scott [running a PR] and Matt running his first-ever outdoor meet. Both were Div. III qualifiers," Carberry said. "With the weather being as hot as it was, we kind of tempered their expectations … These are both guys that can run low 15:00's, but in 75-degree weather, we were really just looking to get 15:30's out of them and have them survive."
On Friday, senior Jesse Faller traveled to Princeton for the Sam Howell Memorial Invitational to compete in the first 10,000-meter run of his career. In his premiere race, Faller's time of 30:13.97, which earned him second at the meet, is a national automatic qualifier, six seconds under the 30:20 mark. The time is the second fastest all-time run by a Tufts athlete and ranks Faller as the third fastest athlete nationally in the 10,000-meter this outdoor season.
"It's like I'm not really even impressed by Jesse anymore. We just keep setting our goals faster and faster for him, and he just seems to hit them every time," Carberry said.
Faller's race earned him NESCAC Track Performer of the Week honors.
On Friday, the Jumbos will host the fifth annual Last Second Multi, and on Saturday, they will travel to UMass Lowell for the George Davis Invitational.
"Outdoor is a short season, but the guys are in great shape, and I think we're really confident about the team we're going to bring into the championship season," Carberry said.
"We all started just about where we'd like to start a season," Prunier added. "No one was content with their performances because they can improve, but no one was dissatisfied.
"With the combination of running on the outdoor track and having a few more weeks of workouts, everyone is pretty confident for this season. Everyone has been positive during workouts and meets, so it's been good to work together and keep everyone focused for their races," Prunier continued.
