Team Battles for 2nd at Bowdoin Invite

(1/30/2011 9:42 AM) See more Photos     Full Results

ometimes, big things come in small packages. That was exactly the case with this weekend’s undersized, four-team Bowdoin Invitational. The meet may have been diminutive in comparison to the major invitationals held by BU and Northeastern this Saturday, but for what it lacked in size, it made up for in PR’s.

Fresh off a solid, early season 10:12 in the DMR on Friday night, the bulk of the Tufts squad ventured north to Bowdoin College to battle with Colby, Springfield, and host, Bowdoin. The day started off with a bang as sophomores Jeff Prescott and Gbola Ajayi simultaneously posted lifetime bests. Prescott dipped under 4:30 for the mile for the first time with his 7th place finish of 4:29.24. Meanwhile Ajayi grabbed the 2nd spot with his leap of 45-0 in the triple jump. Later in the day, each would return for seconds. Ajayi would add a New England qualifying leap of 21-2 in the long jump and Prescott would anchor the 4x800 in a new PR split.

With the tone successfully set, speedsters Vinnie Lee and Jordan Dietrich would keep it rolling as they advanced for the finals in the 55m. Lee would take the 4th spot behind with Jordan tying for 7th. Lee and Dietrich would each add season bests in the 200m as well. Rounding out the sprints was a handful of season bests for the quarter milers. With the teams top two 400m runners on bed-rest this weekend, Lawrence Xia and Jeff Prunier stepped up to post season best times, take a strong step forward, and grab 4th and 6th respectively.

As the middle distance events got underway, the team saw the welcomed return of Connor Rose who even split a New England qualifying 1:23 in his first race of the season. Thiago Lima posted a lifetime best of 1:26 right behind him. With the meet heading into the final push, the Jumbos posted two of their most impressive events on the track – the 1000m and 3,000m runs. Freshmen Jamie Norton (1000m) and Brian McLaughlin (3k) each closed in 28 seconds to qualify for the New England Championships.

McLaughlin came from 20m back in 3rd place to win by 10m in his first collegiate 3k. Sophomores, Luke Maher and Cliff Bargar each added their own PR’s to the mix in the 3k. While in the 1000m, Norton had major support from Jeff Marvel (2:33), Adam Brosh (2:35), Bobby McShane (2:37), and Jake McCauley (2:40).

These may have been some of the more impressive track races of the day for the Jumbos but it was the 35# weight throw that vaulted the team into the hunt for first place. After Alex Gresham, Curtis Yancy, and Adam Aronson grabbed the top three spots in the meet, the competition between Springfield and Tufts became much closer. When Sam Read and Brad Nakanishi added a 1st and 2nd from the pole vault it was an almost a dead heat with 7 events to go.

Springfield’s strength in the long jump, shot put, and relays eventually relegated Tufts to the 2nd spot, but they did not go there willingly. In the end, it was an incredibly well-fought day with well-earned rewards. It was the first collegiate victories for Dan Lange-Vagle (HH) and Brian McLaughlin (3k). Jamie Norton ran the 2nd fastest 1000m that any freshman has ever posted. Sam Haney anchored both the DMR and 4x400 in the same weekend, an odd, but impressive feat. From hear the team takes a 6 day respite and returns next Friday evening with the Tufts Pentathlon.


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