Jumbos Take 2nd at Home Stampede; Black sets school record
(2/6/2014 12:21 PM) Full ResultsOver the weekend, the Jumbos hosted multiple top tier Division III schools such as Haverford and MIT at the annual Tufts Stampede Invitational. The U.S No. 13 Jumbos took 2nd place to U.S No. 11 MIT, as the Jumbos gave the Engineers a run for their money.
Arguably the top performances for the Jumbos on the day came in the 800 meters. Returning DMR All-American Mitch Black ’16 took the race by storm, as he crossed the finish line in 1:51.14, good enough for a Tufts indoor record, a Gantcher Center record, and the number 1 time in the country. Under conversion factors, it is equivalent to a 1:49.50 on a banked track. Veer Bhalla ’16 also ran an impressive time in the race rabbited by 400 meter specialist Graham Beutler ’14, as he finished 3rd in 1:54.92. The Jumbos threw a slew of runners in the mile, as they had two athletes break 4:25. Ben Wallis ’14 ran to a solid 4:23.80 time, while James Traester ’16 hung on to Wallis and ran a PR of 4:24.24. Marshall Pagano ’15 took 2nd in the 3000 meters, dipping under the 8:50 barrier in 8:48.18, while Luke O’Connor ’17, making his 3000 meter indoor debut, was able to finish 5th in 8:50.65. Andrew Shapero ’14 and Tim Nichols ’17 teamed together in the 5000 meter run, as Shapero just missed breaking 15 minutes early in the season by running 15:01.16 for 6th. Nichols hung to Shapero’s shoulder for the entire race, and finished the 3.1 mile distance in 15:05.85, an impressive 5k debut for the freshman.
In the sprints, Francis Goins ’16 was able to take 2nd in the 400 meters, by running a season best of 50.95 for 2nd place. Alex Kasimir ‘16 was also able to place well in the 600 meters, running 1:26.34 for 5th place overall. Another sophomore also gave the Jumbos signs of promise in the sprints, as Bryson Hoover-Hankerson ’16 was able to place 4th overall with a time of 7.26 seconds.
The Jumbos also placed well in the field events. Jarad Asselin ’17 was able to take 5th place overall in the high jump, crossing the bar at 1.83 meters, as well as 5th in the triple jump by leaping to 12.95 meters. The duo of Brian Williamson ’15 and Atticus Swett ’16 continued their impressive seasons in the shot put, as Williamson took 2nd with a throw of 15.62 meters. Swett took 3rd with a throw of 14.34 meters.
The men’s multi-events squad also competed in their first heptathlon of the indoor season. Alex Karys ’15 and Andrew Osborne ’14 broke 4000 points in the event, as Karys took 2nd overall with 4075 points and Osborne took 3rd overall with 4069 points.
The Jumbos will compete next at the BU Valentine Invitational, and will look to qualify more athletes for postseason meets at this high energy invite.
Full Results