Tufts Tunes Up and Adds PRs at MIT Invite

(4/17/2010) Full Results

With only one week left until the NESCAC Championships, the Jumbo track and field squad looked to tune up, add some top 16 performances, and a few additional qualifiers at MIT this weekend. They did exactly that. On a weekend that was forecasted for miserable racing conditions, Mother Nature decided to spare the competitors this weekend and leave somewhat workable conditions.

Yes, the teams battled scattered showers throughout the day; however, the winds and cold temperatures definitely held out for the betterment of the meet. The meet got off to a great start when senior Jonathan Pak notched a season best performance in the long jump with a leap of 6.27m. The mark moved him into the top 16 jumpers in NESCAC qualifying him for the championships.

At the same time, freshman Luke Maher knocked almost 30 seconds off his steeplechase PR as he hooked in with fellow classmate Brandon Severson to finish 2-3 in the meet. Look for both of these rookies to suit up next weekend at the NESCAC Championships and keep the PRs rolling.

Raising the barriers from the 36” steeples to the 42” high hurdles, senior Trevor Donadt continued to find his stride with a first place finish in the 110H. His mark of 15.31 was a season best and less than 0.30 off his PR. Currently, he and classmate Jared Engelking are ranked #2 and #1 in the NESCAC high hurdles. Donadt also sits at the top spot in the 400m hurdles with his mark of 55.11.

Senior, captain Andrew Longley was the top finisher for the Jumbos in this weekends 400m. Longley continues to regain strength with every race back from an early injury. He knocked another full second off his time this weekend and looks to do the same with one more week of workouts under his belt.

Doubling the distance from Longley, the Jumbo half milers put up some solid marks as they tuned up for next weeks conference meet. Hales 1:56.11 and Hanrahans 1:57.34 were both season bests as the two start to round back into form from their great indoor marks. The two seniors were closely trailed by freshmen Jeff Marvel, Sam Haney, Dan Kirschner, and sophomore Connor Rose.

One of the best events for the Tufts distance squad had to be the 5,000m. Less than 24 hours after Jesse Faller set the school record at 14:17, both Sam Hutchinson and Erik Antokal added their own PRs. Hutchinson led wire-to-wire at the MIT meet to clock in at 15:49.20. Hutchinson was following closely by freshman Nick Ferrentino (16:03) with Antokal battling home for a 14 second PR (16:10).

In the field, freshman Brad Nakanishi picked up some serious momentum with a collegiate PR of 13-11 (4.25m) and narrowly missed clearing an ECAC mark of 4.40m. And finally, of the Tufts throwers, junior Alex Gresham had one of the most lucrative days at MIT. He took home the title in the hammer throw with a toss of 163-1, an impressive feat given the incredibly slick conditions of the circle. Gresham also added a huge PR in the discus throw with a heave of 127-5 (38.84m). His hurl gave the Jumbos four discus throwers in the top 14 of the NESCAC rankings.

Given the race conditions and small field sizes, the Jumbos came away from the MIT Invitational with almost everything crossed off their To-Do list. Now the attention shifts to next weeks home meet, known in some circles as the NESCAC Championships.


Full Results