Longley breaks School Record, Marcy and Sorensen qualify for NCAAs at Valentine Invite

(2/9/2008) Full Results

Seeking to establish and improve qualifying marks for the upcoming championship season, the Jumbos brought a full squad down Mass Ave to visit the BU oval for the second time in three weeks. Expectations were high and adrenaline was running ever higher.

The meet started off with the field events. Senior Captain Jeremy Arak set the tone with a season best of 1.98m (6'6"), just one inch off the NCAA provisional mark of 2.01m. While Arak was jumping, the 55m hurdles saw the return of previously injured Jared Engelking with a solid 8.16 mark in the hurdles in his first race back from a sprained ankle. In a trend that would continue throughout the meet, Ikenna Acholonu set a season best of 7.93.

Also during the high jump, the Jumbos ran 3 competitors in the 400m Run. Leading the way, as he has been all season, was Sophomore Andrew Longley with a time of 50.45. Senior Captain Nathan Scott and Freshman Jeremy Peterson also set season bests of 51.45 and 51.52. Peterson's time was a PR by over 2 seconds, showing the incredible strides that he has made in just a few months of indoor training, and the potential that he has to play a pivotal role on the team.

In the far corner of the arena, the Tufts throwers were not to be left out. Freshman Alex Gresham PRed by over 5 feet in his weight throw, narrowly missing the New England qualifier by just 60cm with a throw of 13.40m (43-11.75).

The sprint events are always exciting at BU, and the 200 was no exception. Out of the 5 Tufts competitors, 4 had PRs, led by Andrew Longley's new school record time of 22.48, smashing the previous record of 22.61 that was over 15 years old. Not to be overshadowed were the performances of Phil Rotella and Colin Fitzgerald, both dipping under the 23 second barrier for the first time with times of 22.82 and 22.96, qualifying both for New Englands.

Tufts' Mid-D Squad then prepared to do battle in the 800. Jason Hanrahan, in only his 2nd race back from injury, qualified for New Englands with a season-best time of 1:59.22. Alex Landy broke the 2:00 barrier for the first time with a perfectly-scripted race ending in 1:59.99. Also setting a collegiate PR was Andrew Shanley, running a 2:00.54. As all of these runners are sophomores, the Jumbos will be counting on them for bigger things as the season and their careers progress even further.

The remaining member of Mid-D, Billy Hale, set off in the 1000. Seeded for a PR, Billy ran a blazing 2:30.04, putting him 3rd all time for Tufts, and also 2nd in the Division 3 New England region.

As nightfall crept up, the distance events started up. Tufts had 3 members in the 3000 meter run. Ryan Lena posted the fastest time for the Jumbos, missing NE qualifier by .6 seconds, running 9:00.60. Dropping a PR for the umpteenth straight week was Freshman Chris Brunnquell, running 9:11.61. Brunnquell has dropped over 23 seconds off his 3k time from the beginning of this season. Freshman Jerzy Eisenberg-Guyot also ran a gutsy race, getting knocked off his feet and still recovering to run 9:16 while bleeding from the leg.

Not to be left out, Senior Captain Dan Marcy narrowly snuck into the finals of the triple jump, and then leaped 14.21m (46-7) on his final jump to qualify provisionally for the NCAA Championships. This jump is Marcy's season best and just 6 cm off his PR set his sophomore year.

After everything else wrapped up, the only event left was the 5k. Senior Captain Dave Sorensen PRed by over 20 seconds to join Marcy in qualifying for NCAAs with a time of 14:48. Following Sorensen were sophomore sensations Nick Welch (15:01.80) and Jesse Faller (15:02.16) as well as senior Chris Kantos (15:12).

In throwing down so many PRs and season bests, the Jumbos proved that they are on the right track heading into championship season. They will split up next weekend, with most of the team competing at home, while some of the jumpers head to MIT.


Full Results