Tufts Closes 2012 with Four at NCAAs

(6/8/2012 8:23 PM) Full Results

The Tufts contingent at the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships grew fourfold this year and showcased the Jumbos’ breadth of talent across event groups. In 2011, then-sophomore Matt Rand was the lone representative for the TUTF as he brought home some hardware with his sixth-place finish in the 10,000m. At this year’s national championship, hosted by Claremont McKenna College, a new Jumbo was on the 10k start list—junior Tyler Andrews, making his first trip to a national championship after qualifying in 30:22.82 at the IC4A Championships two weeks prior. With him came three classmates in three different event groups. Jeff Marvel and Gbola Ajayi returned in the 800m and triple jump, respectively, events in which both were All American indoors this winter, while Mike Blair made his first nationals appearance in the decathlon.

Thursday kicked off when the first day of the decathlon. As the last entrant into the meet, Blair was looking to put pressure on the athletes ahead of him and gain valuable nationals experience. The highlight of day 1 was certainly the high jump, one of Mike’s strongest events, as he finished sixth among decathletes with his clearance of 1.90m. He also finished well in the mix with his 6.38m mark in the long jump, good for eleventh. In the end, Blair matched his seed with a 20th place finish and fell short of his qualifying mark of 6168. But he’ll return as a senior with some invaluable experience and a commitment to move up the leaderboard.

As Mike wrapped up day 1, Andrews toed the line in the first running final of the competition. After an uneven first 2k, eventual winner UW Stout’s Tim Nelson took off and gapped everyone but Hamline senior Devin Monson. Tucked in with a pack of three or four runners, Andrews ran relaxed and smooth through the middle kilometers before starting to move up in the second half. He fought hard in the last mile to finish in 31:18.41 for a very impressive eleventh in his first national championship. Even more encouraging, Tyler will be the second returner at next year’s meet, as Dan Kerley of North Central was the only non-senior ahead of him.

On Friday, Marvel took to the track for the trials of the 800m. He came into the meet with the 1:50.82 school record set the New England Championships but had battled some foot issues in the weeks since. It did nothing to shake his confidence, though, as Jeff stuck himself right in the mix of his preliminary heat. Only in the last 200m did he struggle to close it down with the leaders, and he would end up finishing outside of the qualifiers for Saturday’s final. Though not the result he was hoping for, Jeff broke through to an entirely new level this year, winning conference and regional titles in the 1500m and 800m, setting multiple school records, and earning the first All American honor of his career.

After two days of cheering on his teammates, Gbola finally got his turn on the runway on Saturday afternoon. He opened with a solid first round jump of 14.34m but knew he would need more to advance to finals. After fouling a big second jump, Ajayi needed to close in on PR territory to move into the top 9. Even with a mediocre second phase, he pushed out to 14.64 on his third attempt. Unfortunately, this fell just three centimeters short of making finals. Given how fresh he looked and the momentum he was bringing into each of his jumps in prelims, it’s a shame we didn’t get a chance to see what the finals could have brought. Gbola would settle for tenth place on the day.

All four of these Jumbos will return in 2012-13 wiser, stronger, and hungrier than ever to leave their mark on the national stage.


Full Results