The men's track and field team started its season on Saturday, hosting the Snowflake Classic. Three Jumbos earned victories at the non?scoring meet on the Dissault Track, while many others posted solid season opening times in rainy conditions.
Junior Jeff Marvel took first in the 800?meter run with a very impressive race. Marvel crossed the line with a time of 152.33, nearly three seconds ahead of the runner?up. Just a few weeks off of Marvel's fifth place finish in the 800?meter at the indoor track and field NCAA Championships, his solid first?meet performance has a legitimate chance to earn him his first outdoor national berth and shows his promising trajectory outdoors. The finish also earned Marvel the title of NESCAC Performer of the Week.
Junior Brad Nakanishi earned a victory in the pole vault Saturday, clearing 15?0, while sophomore Trevor Rothaus took third in the event with a height of 14?1.
The final Tufts victory came in the 3,000?metersteeple?chase, an event in which the Jumbos claimed four of the top five spots. Returning from an injury during the indoor season, senior tri?captain Scott McArthur was the first across the line in his first ever steeple?chase, finishing in a time of 9:55.55.
"My first steeple was fun. It was a good early?season race, because there was not a lot of pressure on it," McArthur said. "[All four Tufts runners] were within about a 30?second span, which was great. We were able to work together throughout the race."
Freshman Marshall Pagano and sophomore Bobby McShane were the next two across the line, with times of 9:57.70 and 10:03.54 in second and third, respectively, despite a fall in the water pit by McShane. Both times were good enough to qualify for the NESCACs and Div. III Championships. Junior Luke Maher took fifth in the event with a NESCAC?qualifying time of 10:28.66.
Another top finisher was freshman PtahOsayande in the 110?meter hurdles. Osayande took third with a time of 16.21 seconds in his debut in the event.
"I didn't run the time that I was looking for, but it was good to get my first 110?hurdles race out of the way in college, so it was a good starting point and now I know what I have to work on for the rest of the season," Osayande said.
"It was definitely an adjustment, because indoors I've only gone over five [hurdles], and outdoors it is five more," he added.
In the long?distance events, the Jumbos secured two top?five finishes. Junior Sam Haney took fourth in the 5,000?meter run with a time of 15:21.35, while sophomore Andrew Shapero was fourth in the 10,000?meter run, finishing in 32:38.85.
In the field events, senior tri?captain Adam Aronson led the throwers with a runner?up finish in the hammer throw. Aronson's launch of 170?8 was a new personal best of over 10 inches.
"It was a great meet for us. A lot of guys were anxious to finally get our first outdoor meet out the way," Osayande said. "Although the weather wasn't the best, we still had some good performances and it was a good starting point for us to keep the momentum we had from indoor, so we can do what we have to do outdoor."
Most of the squad will travel to UMass Lowell for Saturday's George Davis Invitational, while some distance and middle?distance runners will compete at the Sam Howell Invitational at Princeton on Friday.
The Jumbos will use this weekend to build off of their season?openers after getting in another solid training week.
"It would be great to see some good relays [this weekend], because relays are always sort of indicative of how the team is competing as a unit," McArthur said.
