NCAAs Concludes One of Most Successful Seasons in Program History

(3/17/2012 2:48 PM) See more Photos     Full Results

365 days ago, two Jumbos were headed to the NCAA Indoor Track & Field National Championships. This year, they brought five of their friends. With one of the more well-rounded nationals contingents of recent memory, TUTF had already put a stamp on 2011-12 as a successful season before even boarding their flight to Iowa. Anything else would simply be a bonus. But that didn’t stop them for going for broke. Despite having just a handful of NCAA appearances among them, the squad of seven took to Grinnell, IA like a bunch of nationals vets.

On Day 1, senior captain Connor Rose was the first Jumbo to step on the track for the trials of the mile. He was at the meet in 2011 in the 800m, where he was unable to make the final. A year stronger and wiser, Rose ran an extremely smart race to qualify automatically for Saturday’s final in 4:13.59—the third-fastest qualifying mark of the day. Junior Jeff Marvel followed suit, making a well-timed move in the second trial section of the 800m to grab one of two automatic qualifying spots in 1:53.52, a flat track PR.

In the infield, junior Curtis Yancy made his nationals debut in the weight throw. After a PR of more than two meters just a week prior, where he moved to second all-time at Tufts to take the ECAC title, Yancy came into the meet with a lot of momentum. His first two throws in the trials removed any doubt that last week’s bomb was a fluke, as both were near his PR but marked as fouls. With his last throw, Yancy’s excitement got the best of him as he released early and missed the sector by mere centimeters, though it would likely have been a PR. Without a doubt, Curtis has broken through to a new level, but it may take a few more weeks getting familiar with sixty-plus meter throws. Look out for something special in the hammer this spring.

As Marvel headed out on his cool down after the 800m trials, the distance medley relay got set on the track. Though it was Rose who anchored the squad to their nationally qualifying mark of 9:58 at last week’s ECAC meet, he moved to shorter 800m leg and 10k All American junior Matt Rand took charge of the 1600m leg. As the gun went off, sophomore Bobby McShane ran a gusty race on the 1200m leg, making a solid move with 400 to go to hand off in 8th place. Classmate Graham Beutler took the stick and got one body to hand off in 7th, and Rose, just a couple hours after his 4:13 mile, ran a steady 2:00 leg. With a gap up to the top 7, Rand got the stick with one main goal: hold off multiple-time All American miler Kevin McCarthy from Wabash College for 8th place. With an aggressive opening 600m of 1:31, Rand extinguished any hope McCarthy (who had also made the next day’s mile final) had for running Wabash into an AA spot. Rand ran a smart anchor to grab the first All American honors for the Jumbos, and the first for the DMR since they were third in 2009.

The next day, junior Gbola Ajayi kicked things off in the men’s triple jump. Ajayi had PR’d by almost a foot to enter the meet as the 13th and final qualifier. No biggie. Despite this being his first time at a national championship, Gbola brought his signature swagger to the Grinnell fieldhouse and jumped within one centimeter of his PR to make the final in sixth. The competition was extremely tight, though, with five jumpers within a foot and a half of each other. Wasting no time, Ajayi bombed a new PR of 14.73 in his first jump of finals to move into fourth. Two jumpers passed him in later jumps, but he hung on to a well-deserved 6th place finish and the first All American award of his career.

Two races remained. With 2400m of racing already in his legs, Rose knew the mile final would be a battle. At halfway, the top 8 had gained some distance on Connor, but he fought to keep them in sight. As the fast early pace took its toll on some of the leaders, Rose moved up and with 300m to go made a decisive move. A 27-second last lap brought him into 6th place and his second All American performance of the meet.

With only eight finalists in the 800m, Marvel simply needed to finish to become an All American himself. If it wasn’t already clear, doing “just enough” was anything but the tone of this weekend. After a 59-second opening 400, all eight half-milers were packed up…but the pace quickly picked up. Wabash junior Jake Waterman took the lead and strung the group out, as Marvel moved up through the pack. With 100m to go he was 10m down on 4th place and closing, but the gap would hold and Marvel finish in fifth in 1:54.32, just .26 off Haverford’s Tim Schoch.

The 2011-12 indoor track campaign concluded with seven All American certificates, new school records, dozens of Top 10 All Time performances, and countless PRs. With 11 team points, Tufts finish 17th out of 57 teams and with its 9th place finish at the NCAA XC championships this past fall moved up to 6th place in the running for Program of the Year. But the Jumbos left Iowa knowing the job is far from over. After spring break, it’s back to work. California, here we come.


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