Five Jumbos Headed to Wisconsin

(5/19/2007)

Five Jumbos will compete this upcoming weekend at the National Championships hosted by Wisconsin Oshkosh. Tufts will be well represented as it has at least one athlete in competition each day of the meet.

Captain Fred Jones is the only athlete of the group with experience at the Outdoor Championships. Fred has competed at every Nationals meet, indoor and outdoor, since his freshman year. Jones will compete first on Thursday in the Men's Long at 3:45 PM CST. Fred was the last athlete to gain entry in the Long Jump with a mark of 7.12/23'04.50". Do not let the low seed fool you. In 2005, Fred was ranked 14th of 19 Long Jumpers yet managed to place 7th and earn All-America Honors. Fred will return to the track on Saturday where he will defend his 2006 National Championship in the Triple Jump. Jones' mark of 14.64/48'00.75" is the 8th best coming into the meet.

Competing on Thursday and Friday will be sophomore Skip Pagel in the Decathlon. Skip qualified for this meet at the All New England Championships when he scored 6448 points. While Skip enters as the 11th seed, less than 50 points separate him from the 4th highest score. The multi-event will be hotly contested as the championship and scoring spots are up in the air.

On Friday Evening at 6:00, Sophomore James Bradley and Junior Jeremy Arak will compete in the High Jump. James was a provisional qualifier this past indoor but this will be first time in action at Nationals. Arak participated in the Indoor Championships in 2006. Both of these athletes qualified for this meet this past weekend at the MIT Last Chance meet when they each reset the School Record with jumps of 2.02/6'07.50". Differences in the seeding by one or two centimeters in effect mean nothing as all the athletes will be attempting the same heights.

Junior Dave Sorensen competes on Friday evening as well. The Steeplechase is set to go off at 7:00 PM. Dave enters as the 9th seed in an unbelievably competitive field. Depth wise, the event is deeper than it has been in the past decade with all 17 athletes having run 9:12.

Finally, the Tufts coaching staff was honored with their second consecutive Regional Coach of the Year award. After winning the award this past March at the Indoor Championships, the Jumbo coaching staff was voted Coach of the Year for this Outdoor season as well. It is a great honor bestowed upon the Jumbo coaches. This marks the 5th Coach of the Year award that they program has been recognized with over the past two years.

Congratulations to each of the Jumbos for their outstanding seasons. There are hundreds of athletes in each event in Division III, and these five are among the select few that will compete at the NCAA's. Heat Sheets will be posted when they become available on the meet website.

GO JUMBOS!!