Landslide of Season Bests at Dartmouth

(4/18/2009) See more Photos Full Results

It

was an onslaught of PRs for the Jumbos as they finished off their regular season competition at the Dartmouth Invitational this past Saturday. Hoping to see a change in the dreary weather that has plagued the start to this season, this weekends meet only proved to be a small step in the right direction. However, the cooler temperatures and rains that increased throughout the day did nothing to slow down the stampede of season and personal bests.

In the short sprints, nearly every competitor posted a season best in either the 100 or 200m. Senior Phil Rotella continued his solid season with an 11.20 and 22.23 good enough for 2nd and 3rd place respectively. Hot on his heels in the 200m were classmates Colin Fitzgerald (22.73) and James Bradley (22.87). One of the biggest surprises of the meet was the return of school record holder Andrew Longley to the event. In his first 200m since returning from a broken hip in the off-season, Andrew posted a very impressive 22.87. Also rounding into form was the rest of the short sprints

crew. Ben Crastnopol '13, Gabe Bourgeois '13, Isaiah Paramore '10, Jonathan Pak '10, Marc Soskin '10, and Dan Stone '10 all clocked in at either a season or personal best.

Representing the mid distance crew was the quartet of Billy Hale, Jason Hanrahan, Connor Rose, and Alex Landy in the Â½ mile. Each posted their own season best performance with Hale leading the way in 1:53.49. It was a lifetime PR for Hale, only 0.49 off of the national mark.

And the great times didnâ€™t stop there. Both Sam Hutchinson (5,000m) and Ryan Lena (3,000m Steeplechase) each added big PRs of their own. Hutchinson broke 16:00 for the first time clocking in at 15:58.81 while Lena ran a spectacular race improving by nearly 15 seconds to 9:36.97. Matching Lena's performance over the barriers was classmate Bobby Bardin who clocked in at NESCAC qualifying times for both the 110H and 400IHs. It was his first time in the events this season.

The great performances werenâ€™t in any way reserved for those Jumbos on the track. The field event athletes added their

own slew of PRs to the day. Getting the day started was sophomore Alex Gresham in the hammer throw. His bomb of 164-7 was a personal best and has him ranked 2nd in the NESCAC Conference.

But it probably wasnâ€™t until the final event of the day that the Tufts throwers showed their true colors. Each Jumbo who picked up a discus would come away with a PR on Saturday. Rookies Luke Lamothe, Spencer Ross, and Chris Delaney all qualified for post season competition with Delaney leading all throwers with 136-8. In just a few short weeks, Delaney has climbed the All Time list to the #6 spot.

Two days and three meets later, the Tufts Track & Field team posted 61 season or personal records and look to be picking up momentum as they head into their post season meets. Next week the Jumbos will be gearing up for the NESCAC Championships at Conn College. It looks to be a very heated competition with the quality of all competitors elevated this year.

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