Trio of PRs at Princeton

(4/9/2012 4:19 PM) Full Results

The Jumbos are plenty used to split squad weekends, and this weekend proved once again why they’re on the schedule. While the bulk of the team went north for the George Davis Invitational at UMass Lowell, a trio of juniors headed south on Friday for the fast distance races at Princeton’s Sam Howell Invite. With post-collegians and top Division 1 teams from up and down the east coast in attendance, the Princeton meets are a great opportunity for early-season national qualifiers.

Kicking things off Friday evening was Tyler Andrews in the 10,000m. Last year at this meet, Tyler set a big collegiate PR of 31:45. But what a difference a year can make. Coming off a new indoor 5k best of 14:53, Andrews dropped 41 seconds this weekend to dip under the 31-minute barrier at 30:57.93. Not only that, but his opening 5k of 15:14 was the fourth-fastest of his life, he finished fourth in a field of 30 athletes, his time moves him to seventh on the All Time list, and he qualified for the IC4A Championships later this spring. Not at a bad season opener.

As night set in, classmate Kyle Marks spiked up for the 5,000m. In windy conditions, Kyle ran a smart first half and moved up continuously in the last mile to finish 13th of 20 competitors in a new lifetime best of 14:48.34, improving over eight seconds on his mark from December 2011 of 14:56.59. Despite picking off other runners in the second half of the race, Kyle’s last mile was his slowest, so there’s plenty more in the tank when he attacks the distance again.

On Saturday, the sun was out but the wind persisted. That didn’t faze indoor 800m All American Jeff Marvel, who took to the track for the 1500m. Despite being seeded well under his PR, Marvel closed under 45” to win his section by over two and a half seconds in a personal best of 3:54.65 and was far and away the fastest Saturday mark. In fact, he would have won two of the five Elite sections on Friday night, where he proved he belonged. He’ll get the chance in the 800m in two weeks’ time.

Three for three in PRs, and yet none of the junior trio felt they’d maxed out their potential. After next weekend, when the team is split between Stonehill’s Skyhawk Invite and a home Decathlon, these and other Jumbos will head back to New Jersey for Princeton’s Larry Ellis Invitational.



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