Outdoor Season Kicked Off In Myrtle Beach
(4/1/2010) Full Results70 degrees and sun, admittedly, not typically in attendance at a March track meet for Tufts University. However, as a small contingent of the Jumbo squad headed south to Myrtle Beach, SC for the Coastal Carolina Shamrock Invitational, that was exactly the case this Saturday. There were mixed expectations for the meet as on one side it was ideal competition for the athletes, while on the other hand, it was the first outdoor meet of the season and a number of athletes were coming off an extended drive from MA to SC.
All in all, it was an incredibly worthwhile trip for the Jumbos with a slew of qualifiers for the team in all events. Qualifiers ranged from conference marks all the way to national performances. The best performances of the weekend came from senior, captain, and recently anointed 2x All American, Jared Engelking. Engelking, fresh off his peak from last weekends National Championships, PRed in 3 out of 4 events. His 14.61 in the 110H qualified him for the spring NCAA Championships hosted by Baldwin Wallace College. He added an impressive 134-9 discus throw, 14-7 pole vault, and 174-6 javelin toss.
Backing him up in the PV was junior Sam Read and freshman Brad Nakanishi. Both Nakanishi (13-7) and Read (14-1) qualified for the New England Championships with their clearances. Another pair of rookies added some solid performances in the throws as well. Adam Aronson and Curtis Yancy, in their first collegiate outdoor competition, each qualified for the NESCAC Championships. Both Yancy and Aronson qualified in the discus while Aronson added one in the hammer throw and Yancy one in the shot put. Look for this pair to be big contributors when they are joined by junior Alex Gresham and fellow rookie Sam Stone next weekend.
The lone distance competitor to make the trip added a pair of New England qualifiers for the Jumbos. Jeff Ragazzini doubled in the 5k and 1500m and posted impressive performances in each. The times, in isolation, may not be representative of everything that Ragazzini is capable of; however, after a 14 hour car ride, his 15:28 and 4:04 were right on the mark. In the middle distance events, seniors Jason Hanrahan (1:57) and Billy Hale (1:56) added some solid early season performances. Freshman Dan Kirshner (2:00) added his own NESCAC qualifier.
As the races got faster, senior Scott Brinkman and junior Jeff Prunier added their own marks in the 400m. Brinkmans 51.51 qualified him for the New England Championships, while Pruniers 53.39 was good enough for the NESCAC mark. Senior Dan Stone continued to regain strength from a case of mono that ruined his indoor season. Look for Stone to speed up with each race this outdoor season.
Marc Soskin was the top 100m man for the Jumbos this weekend who added an 11.44 in the sprints. It was a tough day in the 200m though that had all sprinters running into a deceptively tough head wind.
Its safe to say that the Tufts track team got the outdoor season off to a great start this weekend. Of the 34 performances, 27 of them were qualifiers for a championship meet. Looking forward to being joined by the other two thirds of the team in the coming weeks, it looks to be an equally exciting outdoor campaign this spring. You don't want to miss this one.
Full Results