Jumbos Gain Steam On Windy Day at Lowell

(4/10/2010) Full Results

Well, if ‘April showers bring May flowers’ then March rain brings April head winds. For the 2nd straight weekend the Tufts squad has battled the blustery elements to still post some impressive performances. Those that set the tone for the day had to be the Jumbo throwers.

Probably the least effected by the elements, the Tufts hurlers saw almost 100% PRs this weekend. Yancys mark of 141-5 in the discus moved him up to 4th All Time at Tufts and was good enough for 2nd place overall. Alex Gresham (36.54m) and Adam Aronson (38.56m) backed him up with PRs of their own. Sadly though, the hammer competition was cancelled due to a broken cage.

Continuing the strong performances in the field events, Isaiah Paramore added his own PR in the long jump with a leap of 6.50m. Paramore is starting to catch a groove in the event as he’s seen his jumps increase by over a foot in the past few weeks. With the Tufts PVers resting and the decathletes competing across town, most of the field events were left a little bare this weekend. However, that did not keep Gbola Ajayi from putting together a NESCAC qualifier in the TJ with a mark of 12.74m.

On the oval is where the wind could really be felt. The swirling winds left some heats with head winds and others with tails. However, everyone alike was incredibly affected by the gusts. Even still, a slew of Jumbos assembled some fantastic performances. In the 400m, the squad welcomed back a trio of athletes. Captain Andrew Longley clocked off an even-split 52.79 for his first race back from an injury that held him out all winter. Meanwhile, freshman Lomie Cunningham sliced through the wind to punch home in a 50.26. Fellow classmates, Kayin Cherry and Olamide Babatunde assembled some strong races of their own and continue to take their times down by full seconds with each effort.

Another freshman led the way for the team in the 800m as Jeff Marvel finished 4th overall with a 1:57.35. Jeff was a leg on the school record 4x800m team this winter that clipped off a 7:42. His 1:53 leg was integral to that time. Adding his own 800m PR to the mix was speedster Chris Brunnquell. Brunnquell feels most comfortable in the 10k so the 2:07.74 that he assembled may have been an all out sprint. Matt Tirrell recovered brilliantly from a rough showing at the Snowflake Classic to run a PR of 4:03.78 in the 1500m. He will definitely be looking to get under the 4:00 mark in the weeks to come.

Probably most affected by the wind were the Jumbo 2-milers and 5k runners. Even still, Matt Rand assembled a 9:28 effort good for a 30 second PR from his high school time. However, it should be noted that Rand did go through his indoor 5k in 9:30 so it was not uncharted waters for the man. Sophomore, Scott McArthur continued his strong season as he negative split his 9:40.53. After opening up in a pedestrian 4:56, McArthur rolled strong through the finish as he showed his true fitness. Additionally, Andrew Bellet added his second consecutive PR in the 5k with his 15:52.17.

Finally, the Tufts hurdlers continued their strong season as Trevor Donadt set the tone with two season bests. His 15.36 and 55.11 were good for 3rd and 2nd overall as he took an additional 1.4 seconds off his 400mH mark from the week before.

Next weekend the Tufts squad will head across town to the MIT Invitational so be sure to check back for those results.


Full Results