Tufts Wins Again At Invite 3

(2/5/2005) See more Photos     Full Results

The Jumbos won the Tufts Invite 3 this afternoon in decisive fashion, taking a clean sweep of Invites 1, 2, and 3. The meet marks the second to last regular season meet of the indoor season, and several Jumbos stepped up to the plate and went above and beyond to achieve personal bests and New England qualifying marks.

The meet got off to an excellent start with captain Nate Brigham running close to his personal best in the 3000 meters, clocking a very respectable 8:33.82. The Tufts squad also benefitted from rookie Marcus Boggis' third place finish in the 55 meter dash, clocking a New England qualifying time of 6.73 seconds. This performance was all the more impressive given that it was Boggis' first time competing in a Tufts uniform.

In the 400 meters, Dustin Virgilio stepped up in a big way to finish second out of the slower section, clocking a season's best 52.99. Tufts also had strong represenatation in the 600 meters, with Trevor Williams, Nate Scott and Dan Sullivan taking first, third and sixth respectively. Aaron Kaye turned in a solid performance in the 800 meters, finishing in a time of 1:57.72, less than a second out of first. "A-Kaye" nearly got tangled up in the closing meters when Matt Manzi of Ithaca took a spectacular fall just shy of the finish line, but he managed to avoid the crash and finish the race intact!

Matt Fortin raced neck in neck with Stonehill's Richard Gerry, and outkicked him over the last 100 meters to win the event in 2:30.68. Ciaran O'Donovan turned in his best collegiate race this afternoon, crushing his personal best in the 1000 meters with a time of 2:34.48, good enough for 6th place and qualifying him for the New England Championships.

The 1500 meters also turned into a very exciting race over the last couple of laps, with Matt Lacey and Amherst's Mike Page pushing one another to the finish line. Lacey was edged out by Page at the finish, but was very pleased with his time of 4:00.15. In the 5000 meters, Chris Kantos comfortably ran to victory in 15:38.74.

The field events were highlighted by exceptional performances in the high jump and pole vault. Rookie Jeremy Arak cleared 6'4.75", a personal best, and had excellent attempts at 6'6.5". In the pole vault, Will Heitmann and Justin Henneman both qualified for New Englands with jumps of 12'9.5" and 13'3" respectively. Seth LaPierre won the event with a seasons best 14'3.25".

Ryan Byrne threw 46'11" in the shot put, which was good enough for fourth place, and was closely followed by teammate Jason Galvin, who threw 43'6". Galvin also finished third in the weight throw, and was supported by teammates Vinny Galatro, Brandon Udelhofen and Ryan Byrne who all finished in scoring position.

Tufts capped off the day with an authoritative victory in the 4 x 400 meter relay, and a very closely contested 4 x 800 meter relay, in which Tufts was edged by Amherst at the line. Tufts will be competing next weekend at both the St. Valentine's Classic at Boston University, and at our own Tufts Stampede on Saturday here at the Gantcher Center.


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