Great PRs Continue at Opens

(3/2/2012 5:25 AM) Full Results

Day 2 of the Open NE Championships picked up right where day 1 left off as the slew of Jumbo PRs continued to grow. No other region boasts a cross-divisional championship meet like New England does. Without at doubt, this year’s track and field team was prepared to take full advantage of the elevated competition.

Returning from his solid performance in last night’s LJ, Gbola Ajayi jumpstarted the day with his new PR in the TJ. With his jump of 14.47m, he vaulted himself up to 13th on the National list. Likely, he’ll need a bit more to travel to Nationals, but he put himself on the right side of the bubble going into the final weekend.

One year ago, Connor Rose sat in exactly the same stressful bubble position as Ajayi currently sits. He vowed to change that. And in the 2nd unseeded section of the mile, he did exactly that. After a slow opening 800m of 2:07, Rose closed in an impressive 2:01 with a final 400m of 57 ensuring him a spot at the 2012 National Championships. His time was good enough for #2 All Time at Tufts.

Ajayi was not the only athlete to compete on both Friday and Saturday. Mid D specialists Jeff Prescott (1000m) and Jeff Marvel (800m) each qualified for their respective finals. Marvel matched his 1:51 from the day prior to finish 5th overall while Prescott notched his PR down to 2:30 which was good enough for 6th place.

Lastly, the Jumbo squad put an impressive exclamation point on the day with their 3200m and 1600m relays. A trio of freshmen were joined by junior Adam Brosh to run a season best 7:52 in the 4x8. Both Brosh and Alex Sheltzer were coming back from races the previous day while Evan Cover and Aaron Roseman delivered quality fresh legs.

Not to be outdone the 4x400m squad one-upped the 4x800 quartet. Not only did the clock in with a new season best, but the added the second school record of the weekend for the Jumbos. With three of the four legs running their 2nd or 3rd race of the weekend, the teams 3:17.36 was a great showing of strength. The team currently sits 9th on the national list and will look to run a couple seconds faster next week with fresher legs.

Next weekend, the squad will split time between the ECAC Championships at the Armory in NYC and Boston University back home. Having access two of the fastest tracks in the country the week before the National Championships is a great asset to the program as it looks to shore up some final spots. Stay tuned...


Full Results