Home Opener Kicks Off Outdoor Season

(4/2/2007) Full Results

Outdoor track & field, New England, & March ? Sadly, this recipe doesn?t typically lead to great opportunities for solid performances. However, this past Saturday, the Tufts University Snowflake Classic graciously did not live up to its billing. Combining a sunny and calm day from start to finish with top level competition piloted the Jumbo men to a slew of personal bests and qualifying performances.

Going up against numerous division I programs in the form of Dartmouth, Northeastern, and BU as well as fellow DIII competitors Bates, USM, Eastern Connecticut and others, the Jumbos faired extremely well in every event contested.
Opening up the meet were a number of field events. Joe Brown led the way in the men?s hammer throw with his toss of 145-7. In an event where timing and feel is everything, look for the Tufts throwers to improve every week this spring as they adjust to the outdoor circle. At the same time three Jumbo high jumpers qualified for Division III NE?s in the form of Isaiah Paramore, Ted McMahan, and Jeremy Arak. All three were All Region high jumpers this past indoor season.

Heading to the straightaway, the Tufts sprinters and hurdlers put three athletes in the finals of both the 100m and 110HH. Senior Mickey Ferri paced the Jumbos in the finals of the 100m with his PR of 11.18 seconds. Andrew Longley (Fr) and Colin Fitzgerald (So) were good enough for 6th and 7th place finishes both running 11.30 seconds. Over the barriers, the trio of All Region, freshmen hurdlers Ikenna Acholonu, Jared Engelking, and Trevor Donadt all qualified for the finals. Heavy contact in the finals resulted in both a slow race for Engelking and a tumble for Acholonu. Donadt would finish cleanly with bettering his trials time to a 15.57 seconds in his second collegiate 110H race.

As the meet continued, we were able to see a number of TUXC runners showcase their talents. As the region?s athletes readjust to the pacing on a 400m track, everyone fell victim to a pedestrian start to the 1500m run. Freshmen, Nick Welch and Billy Hale would eventually lead he way for the Jumbos with their pair of 4:10?s. Also adding an impressive race would be fellow teammate Jesse Faller. Returning from an injury that kept him sidelined for the duration of indoor track, Faller was able to walk away with the 2nd heat of the 1500m.

Continuing with the performances of the distance squad, Dave Sorensen (Jr) was able to put together one of the more notable performances of the day. Running alone for most of the race, Sorensen was still able to PR in the 3000m steeplechase with his 9:32.37 ? a strong start to the outdoor season.

Capping off the day, the two Jumbo relays put together posted solid marks considering the time of year. The 4x100m relay finished 3rd behind Northeastern and Eastern Connecticut in a time of 43.23 seconds. With very questionable hand-offs in their first effort, the Jumbos are confident in their ability to trim some serious time off that opening effort. Similarly, the 4x400m squad of Nate Scott, Skip Pagel, Jared Engelking, and Nate Cleveland failed to close Dartmouth?s opening gap, but finished in a respectable 3:27.25, good enough for 2nd place.

Next week the Jumbos will venture to Connecticut for the United States Coast Guard Academy Invitational. With another week of solid practices under their belt, look to see even more qualifying performances out of this year?s squad next week.



Full Results