The men's track and field team opened its season over spring break at the Westfield State Invitational on Saturday. Despite a skeleton crew and poor conditions, the squad returned to Tufts with some strong marks.
The Jumbos used this weekend to adjust from the indoor season to the outdoor track and gain experience in the new events that the spring season introduces, focusing less on the times or marks they hit.
"It was a good start to the season for the guys," senior co−captain Jeff Prunier said. "The weather wasn't conducive to running good times. It always takes a couple of weeks to get used to running on the outdoor track and dealing with the elements. So while the times and the distances weren't exactly what we were going for, the wind and the cold certainly affected their performances."
The highlight of the day was freshman Graham Beutler's performance in the 400−meter dash. Despite strong winds on the home stretch, Beutler set a new personal best in the race with a time of 50.70 seconds. Among 40 athletes, he finished sixth, with the leader under a second ahead, in 49.77.
"I was in lane seven in the second−fastest heat so that was tough mentally for me, because I like to chase, so starting out on a stagger wasn't too good. I just had to run my own race," Beutler said. "The kid in lane one won our heat, so it was good to have some competition in the last straightaway."
Beutler showed his strength in the 400 this indoor season, running that leg of the Distance Medley Relay that provisionally qualified for NCAAs and just missed earning a bid to the national meet.
According to the first−year Jumbo, he will again focus on running a strong relay leg, though this season it will be in the 4x400.
"As far as individually, I think I'll just focus on the 400 and see if I can go sub−50 [seconds]," said Beutler, who did just that in a relay leg this winter.
Saturday was a big day for the throwers as well, with the outdoor season adding the discus, hammer and javelin to the throws that indoors were limited to — the shot put and weight.
Senior Alex Gresham opened his spring season with a victory in the hammer throw with a distance of 158−05, a mark over six feet farther than the runner−up. Among the 28 competitors, junior Adam Aronson added a sixth−place finish with a throw of 138−07. Aronson matched his performance with another sixth−place finish in the discus.
"The throwers were excited to get back out there," Prunier said. "They've been practicing the hammer all indoor and they've been really excited to get out there and see how their work paid off."
A third sixth−place finish came from sophomore Michael Blair in the triple jump with a distance of 40−2. The final scorer for Tufts was freshman Trevor Rothaus, who took home third in his first collegiate outdoor pole vault, clearing a height of 13−1 1/2.
Despite the bare crew — many athletes were away from campus for spring break — Tufts managed to score 27 points to take 11th among 16 schools. American International School won the meet with 123 points.
"There were some great efforts at the meet, but the weather really impeded some of their results and I really don't think the times or the distances are indicative of the kind of shape of the athletes, both from Tufts and elsewhere," Prunier said. "I think we'll see times and performances improve a lot as the season goes on."
The Jumbos will compete in full force this weekend, hosting the Snowflake Invitational Saturday on the Ding Dussault Track at the Ellis Oval.
"Everybody is looking for a pretty decent mark to start their season to give them some confidence about the training they've been dong for the past eight or nine months," Prunier said. "The team is definitely built for the outdoor season and so it will be extra exciting to see how we all do in our first full−squad meet."
