Early Return Invitational Comes Down To The Wire

(1/12/2008) See more Photos     Full Results

In the first ever Alumni Invitational, the Jumbos narrowly defeated Tufts and the Alumni/Coaches to win the inaugural meet. The highly competitive meet showcased the depth and talent of Jumbos young and old, with events being won by current students, alumni, and even coaches. The two teams of current athletes, led by Coaches Sam Krumholz and Skip Pagel for the Jumbos and Coaches Alex Bloom and Jared Engelking for Tufts, used everything from carefully planned strategy to all-out intensity and effort to finish one point apart. In the end, however, it was Coach Krumholz and Coach Pagel's Jumbos that finished out on top.

Every event group put on a show, but as usual, there were some highlights that stood out. In the 40y dash, sophomore Marc Soskin pulled away with a .04 second victory over Tufts teammate Colin Fitzgerald, who just returned from a semester abroad. The biggest shocker, though, was senior captain Jeremy Arak's 3rd place finish in 4.995 seconds, which caused coaches on all three teams to quickly adjust their lineups and re-strategize.

The 300m dash turned into a two-man race between sophomore Jumbo Andrew Longley and sprints coach Kevin Bright. Bright pulled away for the win in a facility-record time of 36.18, with Longley right behind him in 36.51. Junior James Bradley, who also just returned to the United States, finished third in 37.25.

In the 600m run, sophomore Jumbo Billy Hale handily beat a pack of three Tuftonians--sophomore Alex Landy, senior captain Nate Scott, and sophomore Jason Hanrahan--in a time of 1:24.32.

The mile turned into an exciting duel between current Jumbos and alumni. Warming up for next week's annual Has Beens Mile, Brian McNamara out-kicked senior captain and Engelbloom Dave Sorensen 4:30.39 to 4:31.18. Following closely behind, senior Jumbo Matt Alander edged alumnus Adam Sharp, running 4:36.15 and 4:36.61, respectively.

The 2-mile was also a showcase for the alumni/coaches team, with Matt Lacey winning the event in 9:25.54. Sophomore Jumbo Nick Welch finished second in 9:30.01, and senior Engelbloom Chris Kantos took third in 9:36.55.

In the 55m hurdles, head coach Ethan Barron beat his disciples--Engelbloom Trevor Donadt and Jumbo Ikenna Acholonu--with a very fast winning time of 7.78. Donadt finished in a personal best time of 7.90, and Acholonu was right behind him in 7.91.

The relays, scored 7-5-0, caused some major end-of-meet point swings, with an Tufts-Alumni/Coaches-Jumbos finish in the SMR, and a Jumbos-Tufts-Alumni/Coaches finish in the DMR. In the sprint medley, anchor-leg Alex Landy held off a hard-kicking Adam Sharp to bring his relay in with a time of 3:43.11. The alumni/coaches finished right behind in 3:43.39. In the sprint medley, Billy Hale came back from his 600m victory to lead off in the 1200m leg, and freshman Jumbo Greg Pallotta held off Dave Sorensen in the anchor leg to keep the Jumbos in the running for the alumni meet win.

In the throws, senior Jumbo Joe Brown could not hold off the strength of the aged, as he finished second place to alumni in both the shot put and 25lb weight throw. Jason Galvin won the shot put with a throw of 13.56m (44' 6"), and Joe Welch won the weight throw with 19.49m (63' 11.5"). Brown threw 12.56m (41' 2.5") in the shot and 18.56m (60' 11") in the weight.

Jeremy Arak won the high jump with a leap of 1.93m (6' 4"), with freshman Jumbo Frank DeSalvo finishing second at 1.87m (6' 2"). Junior Tuftonian James Bradley and Phil Rotella tied for 3rd with each clearing 1.82m (6' 0").

After all other events had finished, the Jumbo sat in last place going into the long jump finals, with Coach Krumholz and Coach Pagel preparing to see their dreams of victory fall to Tufts, or worse, the Alumni/Coaches. But in an unexpected twist in the sixth round, senior Jake Fromer, who had fouled his first five jumps and was approaching track and field history with an unprecedented sextuple-foul, opened the last round with a 6-inch-PR leap of 6.17m (20


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