Tufts Opens Season at Northeastern Invite

(12/4/2011 9:18 PM) Full Results

The 2012 Tufts Track and Field team started their season with a number of solid performances at the Jay Carisella Invitational hosted by Northeastern University. With solid competition from Division I, II, and III in attendance, the Jumbos took advantage of the opportunity to see where their baseline was for the season. And after a great summer and fall of training, it's easy to say that these Jumbos look to improve on last year’s performances. With their showing from this weekend’s opening competition, the team has already improved on last year’s top indoor marks in the 400m, 600m, 5k, 55H, long jump, shot put, and weight throw.

The season got underway as five Jumbos toed the line for the 5k. About 15 minutes later, the team had notched five PRs, granted two athletes were first-timers to the event. However, Matt Rand (14:48), Kyle Marks (14:56), and Tyler Andrews (15:10) all improved on last year’s indoor marks. It was Marks’ first time breaking the 15-minute barrier. Sophomore Jake McCauley added his own DIII qualifier with a 15:29 in his first ever track 5k.

Simultaneously, freshman Ptah Osayande qualified for the finals of the 55mH with his opening race of 8.03. Decathlete Mike Blair also added a PR with his 8.45 in the event. Blair went on to clear 6-4 in the HJ, qualifying him for every championship meet except for Nationals. Following Blair’s lead, Gbola Ajayi also qualified for every meet but Nationals in the long jump and triple jump. His marks of 21-11.75 and 45-1 were solid December marks.

Personal bests, however, were not solely reserved for the distance and jumping events. In the middle distance events, both senior captain Connor Rose (4:18) and sophomore Jamie Norton (4:18) set new PRs in the mile. Jerzy Eisenberg-Guyot, normally a 5k/10k runner, took the time to drop his 800m PR to 2:02. These were impressive marks for a training group that has yet to do any quality track efforts in practice, running solely off base training.

In the sprints, sophomore Graham Beutler improved upon his early 500m race from the previous year. His mark of 1:06.68 was more than a second faster. Additionally, first-year Francis Goins finished 3rd overall with his 50.56 in his first 400m in a Tufts uniform. Beutler and Goins were joined by 55m dashers Dan Lange-Vagle and Vinnie Lee to post an early 3:25.06 for the 4x400m relay.

Lastly, despite being quarantined off in the corner of the facilities, the Tufts throwers would not be outdone by their teammates on the track. Junior Curtis Yancy lobbed a two-foot PR in the 35# weight throw with a toss of 54-2.25. Meanwhile, rookie Brian Williamson broke the Freshman Record with his opening performance of 48-3.5.

Using this meet as an opportunity to see where their fitness is at, each Jumbo is capable of major improvements on their current performances. With little-to-no track workouts for middle distance and up, mere base work for the sprinters, short approaches and limited jumps for the jumpers, and first efforts over 42” hurdles, there are more than enough opportunities to find new personal bests in the months to come. As for now, the Jumbos return to practice with no competition until after Winter Break. On to finals…


Full Results