Gojumbos: Home of Men's Cross Country and Track & Field at Tufts University

Bhalla moves into Top 10 nationally as Jumbos compete at Home

(2/10/2015 11:50 AM) Full Results

This past weekend, the Jumbos competed in their third home meet of the season as they hosted the Tufts Cupid Challenge. There were a lot of impressive performances across all event groups.

The meet was highlighted by the outstanding performances of the mid-distance squad. Junior Veer Bhalla won the 800 in 1:53.90 which now ranks him nationally in the top 10 for all DIII runners in that event. Though Bhalla bested the field, he looks forward to even improving on that time further in hopes of qualifying for DIII Indoor National Championships. Also in the 800, junior Alex “Greece” Apostolides broke the 2 minute barrier for the first time this season as he ran a 1:58.66. Freshman Chris Gregory also had a great day as he ran the 600m in a time of 1:24.60 for third place. In the 1000m, sophomore Luke O’Connor showed that he could compete in faster races than he is normally used to, as he ran 2:37.19 for fifth place.

In the circle and on the runaway, several athletes also posted some impressive marks. Junior throwers Ife Adebayo and Atticus Swett placed third and fourth in the weight throw with marks of 47'2 ½” and 46'4 ½. Swett also earned second for his efforts in the shot put in 48’4”. Junior Pietro Possenti won the pole vault as he cleared 13' 7 ½”.

On the longer distance side, there were some standout races as well. Most notably, there were two qualifiers for the DIII New England Championships, junior James Traester in the mile and freshman John Greenberg in the 3000m. Both runners placed fourth in their respective events as Traester ran a season best time of 4:22.87 and Greenberg ran a PR of 8:53.49. Tufts now has the most DIII New England qualifiers for the 3K of any school.

Next week, the Jumbos will not be traveling far as they will compete at the David Hemery Invitational at Boston University. Everyone looks forward to improving on their times and marks as the indoor championship season is right around the corner.



Full Results