Engelking Qualifies for Nationals in 55mHH

(1/30/2010) See more Photos     Full Results

Saturdays competitions marked the first of two split squad meets for the Jumbos this winter. The Tufts track and field squad sent athletes to both the Bowdoin Invitational in Maine as well as the BU Terrier Invite across town. Across the board, the team posted a litany of New England Qualifiers and continued to gain strength toward the championship season.

Leading the way for the Jumbos was senior, captain Jared Engelking who PRed in both of his events this weekend with a 14-3 clearance in the pole vault and a 7.71 showing in the high hurdles. Engelkings hurdle race bested the National Qualifier and has him sitting at 9th in the country so far in this young season. The hurdle (3rd) and pole vault (4th) PRs were both Top 10 All Time performances for Tufts.

Adding his own Top 10 All Time performance was freshmen Gbola Ajayi who leapt to a 44-2 mark in the triple jump. Ajayi continued to gain comfort in the event as it was still only his 2nd meet as a triple jumper. Senior, Jonathan Pak added some support to Ajayi in the jumps with a PR of his own. His mark of 6.38m qualified him for the New England Championships as he inches closer to the 21-0 barrier. Rounding out the jumping events was the duo of freshman Mike Blair and senior Isaiah Paramore who went 1-2 in the high jump. Each narrowly missed their attempts at 1.92m and look to pick up some added height as they begin to rest for championship meets.

The Jumbos saw an onslaught of PRs and qualifiers flow out of this years young freshman class. Vinnie Lee (55m), Sam Haney (1000m), Adam Brosh (1000m), Dan Kirschner (800m) each added their own New England qualifiers with their first attempts at their respective events. In addition, their classmate Nick Ferrentino continued his return to form with his first bid at the 5,000m distance. His 16:01.80 was good enough for 2nd place in the meet.

Not to be shown up by the first year racers, sophomore Scott McArthur and junior Chris Brunnquell each clocked in with PRs in the 3k. McArthur (8:48.73) PRed by over 15 seconds while Brunnquell (8:54.40) improved his personal best by nearly 12 seconds. Both qualified for the New England Championships with their efforts. In the same event, Corey Melnick, Erik Antokal, Brandon Severson, Brendan Blaney, and Andy Haskel all added their own PRs for a 100% PR-rate in this weekends 3k.

In addition to the solid performances in Maine, a trio of mid-d runners put together some impressive races at Boston University. Seniors Billy Hale (2:31.13) and Matt Tirrell (2:31.32) became the top two 1000m runners in the region so far this year. Finishing off all races for the weekend was senior Scott Brinkman who punched in a 1:06.38 in the 500m having to avoid a crash down the final stretch.

Next weekend the Jumbos have their final home invitational with the Tufts Stampede. The team looks to build off this weekends momentum and continue to PR as the season heats up. They hope to welcome in some young competitors as well as welcome back some talented veterans into the fray.



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