Blair Finishes 3rd at NE Pentathlon

(2/24/2011 11:56 AM) See more Photos     Full Results

With 33% of the pentathlon field suiting up in brown and blue at this weekend's England Championship, the table was set for one of the Jumbos more lucrative events of the meet. Sophomore Michael Blair was the top seeded Jumbo with a 6th place seed. Freshmen Andrew Osborne and Dan Lange-Vagle were the only two first years in New England to hit the qualifying mark of 2950 points bringing the total field up to 9 competitors.

The day got off to a decent start for the trio as Blair and Osborne each PR’d in the 55mH. A hurdler by trade, Lange-Vagle’s steps to the first hurdle were off resulting in one of his slower performances of the year. As the competition moved over to the LJ, Blair quickly illustrated that he was there to compete this weekend. He tacked on another PR, improving his LJ mark by 8cm. Osborne, a long jumper by trade, struggled to find the board and ended with a leap that was measured 40cm short of his qualifier.

With the first-year competitors off to a bumpy start in their premiere NE pentathlon, Blair took over the reigns. In this case, it took the form of an 87cm PR in the shot put. He’d add to that, the top HJ clearance of the day as he soared over 1.93m. At this point, Blair was in need of a 2:50 to hit the NCAA qualifying mark of 3350 points. However, Blair had 3rd place locked up and was needed in the HJ the following day. As a result, he conservatively ran the 1000m finishing in 3:00 good enough for a PR score of 3248 and 3rd place.

Even in the face of a tough start at the hurdles, Lange Vagle still managed a 7th place finish overall. However, more than anything, it was invaluable experience for the two freshmen to qualify for the New England Championships and compete as first years. With four of the nine pentathletes graduating this spring, it bodes well for the Jumbos to have three of the five returning competitors.


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