Tufts' Multis Start Off Strong

(12/9/2006) Full Results

This past weekend a skeleton crew of Tufts pentathletes traveled to Lewiston, ME for their first competition of the season. Hosted by Bates College, the site of this year?s New England Championships, the meet proved to be very fruitful and competitive for the Jumbos. The 10 man competition was comprised of four athletes from Tufts and Bates, as well as one from both USM and Bowdoin. The Jumbo competitors were without Nathan Scott and James Bradley, the runner-up and 4th place finishers from last year?s championships. They were also without the services of All-Region decathlete Derek Engelking due to a nagging injury. With the top 7 athletes scoring in excess of 2800 points, this December's Bates pentathlon was well worth the trip.

The day began as freshmen Jared Engelking and Trevor Donadt went 1-2 in the 55mHH. Both qualified for the Division III New England Championships in their first attempt at the race running 8.00 and 8.33 respectively. Engelking would repeat his first place performance in the long jump grabbing the top spot with his jump of 20-4.

The team's solid base of training could be seen in the in the third and fourth events as they all posted solid performances in shot put and high jump. Jared Engelking and Fielding Pagel both topped the 10m mark in the shot put while Engelking and Jeremy Arak both toppled 6 feet in the high jump. Arak qualified for the New England Championships by clearing 6'03.5".

Heading into the 1000m, each Tufts competitor had the 2500pt qualifying mark nearly wrapped up. Needing to run 2:47 for a new school record, Engelking went out with the leaders coming through the first 400m in 65 seconds. The pace proved to be too much for the freshman and he faded back, finishing in 2:55. Jared's score of 3329 is currently the third best in school history.

The quartet of pentathletes started the season off with solid performances across the five hour event. However, each is capable of improving in across the board before the NE championships this February. The Bates Pentathlon concludes the action for this semester as final examinations begin. The Jumbos will next compete at the Dartmouth Relays on January 7th.


Full Results