'Bos Bring It at BU

(1/30/2012 2:40 PM) Full Results

With the bulk of the team competing in Maine at the Bowdoin Invite, a skeleton crew crossed the Charles to square off against some of the top teams from all divisions at the annual Terrier Classic at Boston University. Though there is definitely strength in numbers, the ten Jumbos running at BU punched well above their weight, bringing home an impressive list of new PRs and qualifying marks.

BU’s facility is one of the fastest tracks in New England and attracts national- and even world-class athletes. But it won’t run the race for you. Luckily the Jumbos had to look no further than the trio of 3000m runners for how to get after it. Three for three in PRs—two of which are now #7 and #9 all time—junior Kyle Marks (8:37.00) and sophomores Ben Wallis (8:36.05) and Brian McLaughlin (8:48.95) set the tone for the day.

Sophomore Graham Beutler kept the momentum building with a PR and top-ten performance of his own in the 400m. Now the seventh fastest time in school history, Graham’s 49.62 was a great omen for the 4x400m relay to come later in the evening. Senior Ben Crastnopol backed him up with a 51.20 season best.

Next on the track were senior co-captain Connor Rose and junior Sam Haney in the mile. Rose has expanded his range tremendously over his career at Tufts, competing at national championships in both the 800m and cross country. That showed at BU as he ran a 61-second last 400m to move up to second in his heat and a new PR of 4:14.95. Rose now owns spots on four individual top 10 all-time lists in indoor track alone. Haney proved his hard work is paying off as lowered his season best to 4:18.90. As likely DMR legs, Rose and Haney took a great step forward for a team that finished third in the event in 2009 and looks to return to the national stage this winter.

Another key component of that relay will be junior Jeff Marvel who, just weeks after returning from a semester abroad in Chile, popped an Open New England-qualifying mark of 1:55.69. He joined Rose in the 800m at indoor nationals last year as both ran school record-breaking 1:52s to qualify. Today, Marvel got out smooth in 56 seconds and made a strong move down the back stretch with 350m to go, moving up throughout the race. With just a handful of strength workouts under his belt, this race was a great sign that Jeff’s solid base from the fall has him well ahead of where he was at this point last year.

As sections of the mile wrapped up, the TU sprint core took to the track in the 200m. Freshman Francis Goins led the charge in 22.67, the second fastest time for a freshman in Tufts history, with junior Vinnie Lee tenths behind in 22.87. Crastnopol came back from the 400m to edge closer to the 22s with his 23.00, while frosh hurdler Ptah Osayande ran a solid one-lap college PR in 23.87. After his 23.32, sophomore Daniel Lange-Vagle joined Goins, Lee, and Beutler in the mile relay. With three sub-49 splits, their 3:19.56 is a solid January mark, sixth on the school record board, and currently third in the nation.

But then again, it’s only January. Many months of track and field lie ahead. Next week, the Jumbos continue the charge with their second home invitational of the year before returning to BU for the Valentine Invitational on February 11.


Full Results