Tufts Finishes in Close Second at NESCACs

(4/26/2008) Full Results

For the second consecutive year, Tufts and Williams battled to the very end of a grueling NESCAC Championships. This time, however, the rarity of a tie could not be repeated, nor could Tufts secure the outright victory. The Jumbos finished second to Williams, 195-183, with third place Bates far behind the two front-runners with 84.5 points. But second place does not mean this meet was a disappointment for Tufts, who entered this meet as both reigning Indoor Division III New England champions and an injury-plagued roster that left many MVP candidates on the sidelines. The team score, as well as almost every individual competitor on the team, proved that the Tufts Men's Track Team relies on both athletic ability and incredible heart. For this meet to be as close as it was between the top two teams is a statement to the passion and depth of the Jumbos.

With the first group of athletes waking up before the beautiful upstate New York sunrise, the meet got off to an early and exciting start. The men's long jump, shot put and javelin kicked off at 9:00 AM, with an air of uncertainty about whether Tufts could survive the day with a recovering senior Derek Engelking and the injury of senior captain Nate Scott, who was supposed to compete in the long jump (as well as four or five other events). Any wonderings were quickly disbanded from the first throws and jumps. In the shot, senior Joe Brown threw a PR of 13.08m (42' 11"), which landed him in 9th place. Derek and Jared Engelking finished 5th and 4th in the javelin, respectively, with throws of 52.55m (172' 5") and 53.53m (175' 7"). In the long jump, senior captain Dan Marcy, classmate Jake Fromer, and sophomore Jonathan Pak finished in 4th, 8th, and 9th, respectively. Their best jumps were 6.39m (20' 11.75"), 6.18m (20' 3.5"), and 6.14m (20' 1.75").

The meet got fully rolling with running events and more field events as the early morning competitions came to a close. The men's 10k was the first running event of the day; it was one of countless highlights for the Jumbos, as three Tufts runners scored. Senior Chris Kantos finished 5th in 32:37.25, freshman Jerzy Eisenberg-Guyot finished 7th in 33:34.55, and freshman Chris Brunnquell finished 8th in 33:40.64. In the steeplechase, senior captain Dave Sorensen destroyed the field, winning in a NCAA provisionally-qualifying time of 9:10.73, beating the 2nd-place finisher by 21 seconds. Sophomore Nick Welch finished 7th in 9:41.61. Welch came back at the end of the meet to finish 5th in the 5k in 15:28.09; classmate Jesse Faller won the event with his dominating kick in a time of 15:10.22.

The sprinting events were crucial to Tufts' 183 points. In the 100m dash, Tufts put three runners in the finals, with two more close behind in 9th and 11th. Junior Philip Rotella finished 3rd in the event with a personal-best time of 11.09; sophomore Andrew Longley finished right behind in 4th with a time of 11.16; and junior Colin Fitzgerald came in 5th with a time of 11.24. Senior Marcus Boggis was 9th in the preliminary round with a time of 11.40, and sophomore Marc Soskin came in 11th with a time of 11.51. Fitzgerald and Rotella came back to score in the 200m dash, too, finishing in 3rd and 4th, respectively, in times of 22.52 and 22.53. The duo, along with Soskin and Longley, ran on the 2nd-place 4x100m relay team, crossing the line in a season-best time of 42.63.

In the 110m hurdles, all four Tufts competitors made the finals, with sophomore Ikenna Acholonu winning the event for the second year in a row and crossing the line in an NCAA provisionally-qualifying time of 14.95. Sophomores Acholonu, Trevor Donadt, and Jared Engelking completed a 1-2-3 sweep of the event, with classmate Bobby Bardin finishing in 6th place. Donadt's time was 15.01, and Engelking's time was 15.17; Bardin's time of 16.34 in the trial heat was a lifetime best by multiple tenths. Donadt followed his 110m hurdle performance with an NCAA provisionally-qualifying time and victory in the 400m hurdles. His winning time of 54.33 was over one second ahead of the 2nd-place finisher. Andrew Longley finished 5th in the event in 56.38.

Sophomore Scott Brinkman finished 7th in a very fast 400m dash with a personal-best time of 50.10. Freshman Jeff Ragazzini was the top Tufts finisher in the 1500m, running a PR of 4:06.25. Senior Matt Alander set a personal best of his own, crossing the line in 4:11.08. The Tufts 4x400m relay finished in third place with a season-best time of 3:22.27, and the DMR, led off by Jesse Faller, who had just finished his 5k, came in 2nd with a time of 10:16.27.

In the hammer, Joe Brown launched a throw of 48.48m (159' 0"), earning him a 4th-place finish. Brown also finished 6th in the discus--his third throwing event of the day--with a throw of 37.69m (123' 8"). Freshman Sam Read was the lone Jumbo in the pole vault, clearing 4.04m (13' 3") to tie for 4th place. In the high jump, all four Tufts jumpers scored, with junior James Bradley winning the event after clearing a height of 1.96m (6' 5"). Senior captain Jeremy Arak finished 3rd with 1.91m (6' 3.25"), junior Ted McMahon finished 5th with a season-best 1.86m (6' 1.25"), and sophomore Isaiah Paramore finished 8th with 1.81m (5' 11.25"). In the triple jump, senior captain Dan Marcy finished 2nd by a mere centimeter, landing a jump of 14.53m (47' 8"), and classmate Jake Fromer finished 5th with a personal-best jump of 13.70m (44' 11.75").

Overall, this was as successful a meet as any member of the Tufts Men's Track Team could have asked for. Every competitor left every ounce of strength and will on the track in Clinton, NY; the 2008 NESCAC Championships was a meet to make Jumbos proud.

The team returns to action next weekend at the 2008 Outdoor Division III New England Championships at the US Coast Guard Academy in New London, CT. Go Jumbos!


Full Results