Months of hard work will culminate this weekend in the most important team meet of the season for members of the men's track and field squad. The Jumbos will travel to Springfield College for the Div. III New England Championships, starting tonight and continuing tomorrow.
The Jumbos narrowly earned third place at Div. III Championship last year, finishing just ahead of Bowdoin and Southern Maine, while MIT and Williams dominated the event. These two teams again look strong going into the competition, as they do most years. Either MIT or Williams has claimed the title every season since 1991, with the exception of a Tufts victory in 2008.
"MIT, Williams and Bates are probably the top?three seeds going into this weekend's meet, with MIT being the favorite," coach Ethan Barron said. "We go in most likely as the sixth seed ... I think we're capable of fighting for something better than that. How high we can claw and battle will be up to our guys."
Tufts' championship squad this year consists mainly of underclassmen. According to Barron, only six combined juniors and seniors make up a group of over 30 competing athletes this weekend.
"Our goal is really to just make some noise," co?captain Sam Read, a senior, said. "We have a really young team ... so we want the young guys to send a message to New England and show them what they're about."
No analysis will be able to predict this weekend's results, because Tufts has in the past earned major points from unexpected sources. Barron hopes his young squad will yield similar results this season.
"Meets like this you're always surprised in some ways," Barron said. "Last year [freshmen] Jeff Marvel and Sam Haney had breakout performances, and three years ago Sam Read had a breakout performance, so it will be exciting to see who wants to be the person to really breakout this weekend."
The event will kick off this weekend with the pentathlon at 4 p.m. The Jumbos hope to earn big points and momentum out of the competition.
Freshmen Andrew Osborne and Daniel Lange?Vagle, the only two freshmen in the region to qualify, will run with sophomore Michael Blair in the event.
The rest of the squad will compete tomorrow, beginning at 10 a.m.
"I would say [our strengths come from] our pole?vaulters - we have four guys in it, which is the most we've ever had - and our middle?distance guys," Read said. "Our 600?, 800?, 1,000?meter guys are pretty strong. It will be interesting to see what someone like [freshman] Jamie Norton can do. He is our fastest seed in the 1,000."
Sophomore Vinnie Lee is also expected to contribute in the 55? and 200? meter runs.
"We're a young team with a young coach. ... Like most youth; don't tell us we can't do something," Barron said. "It will just piss us off and we'll do everything we can to prove you wrong. We're a balanced team and we're a team that has a lot of heart and fire, so we'll see if we can put that together on Friday and Saturday."
