All Qualify at Tufts Pentathlon, Engelking to Nationals

(1/30/2009) Full Results

The Jumbos made their triumphant return to the pentathlon this Friday as they kicked off the second of three invitationals at the Gantcher Center this season. Seen by many programs as the forgotten Friday event at the New England Championships, the Jumbos have averaged over 18 points in the pentathlon over the last three championships. Tufts has remained undefeated in the event for over a year now, including the ECAC and New England Championships. This weekend’s performance would be no different.

Added as an event to the national championships this winter, the pentathlon looks to be a much more highly contested event throughout the division this year. On that note, junior Jared Engelking became the third athlete in the nation to achieve the 3400 point standard. He did it in grand fashion hitting the mark exactly. Teammates Trevor Donadt and Skip Pagel followed in line with their own ECAC qualifying performances of 3115 and 3059 respectively.

The evening began with the 55mH where Engelking posted the fastest time of the meet with his 7.94. Donadt was right on his heals with his own New England qualifier of 8.02. Moving to the long jump, Engelking leapt to one of only two 6m jumps in the competition. Most impressive in the jumping competition were senior All American Skip Pagel’s three attempts from a limited approach. In his first competition since he finished 6th at the national championships in the decathlon, Pagel posted solid performances across the board and looks to be a big factor in this year’s pentathlon.

After strong showings in the SP and HJ, the Jumbos headed into the 1000m run. In need of a 2:54.0 to hit the NCAA qualifying mark, Engelking took every second of his allotted 2 minutes and 54 seconds to finish the race. Out leaned at the line by Donadt, Engelking was forced to wait patiently as his final score was tabulated. With the pentathlon in its first season as a national event, it is impossible to know if a mark of 3400 will be sufficient to qualify for the meet.

However, each of the three Tufts pentathletes should be able to find additional points in all five events. It is safe to say that with another few weeks of training and some heightened competition and intensity, these fifteen marks should be a thing of the past. The Jumbo multi athletes looked competitive and strong this Friday, but will need to find a few more cms, seconds, and points if they wish to continue their dominance in this event.


Full Results