Jumbos Travel to Myrtle Beach for Shamrock Invitational

(3/31/2015 11:00 AM) Full Results

Last week, the Jumbos went on their annual Spring Break trip. In years past, the team has visited a many different places including California and Virginia during their break. This year,the squad traveled to Myrtle Beach, SC. While in Myrtle Beach, the guys enjoyed hanging on the beach, go-karting, and playing mini-golf among other things. There was certainly time for relaxation and team bonding, but nevertheless the squad got a very solid week of training in. On Thursday, Friday, and Saturday of last week, most Jumbo athletes competed in the Alan Connie Shamrock Invitational. The Shamrock Invitational included some of the top DI, DII, and DIII talent in the nation. Since it was the team’s first official outdoor meet, coaches, athletes, and fans were eager to see some improvement on times from the indoor season.
Junior decathlete Alex Karys competed with tenacity. With a 1st place finish in the 1500m, a 7th place finish overall, and a solid score of 5,427. Right behind him was teammate Allan Yau, who PR’d by over 100 points in the Decathalon (and almost 150 points from his season opening Decathalon last year). Those marks should be good enough to qualify the duo for the DIII New England Championships.
Junior Atticus Swett and Senior Brian Williamson had some solid throws too. Swett threw the shot 13.80m, the discus 1.76m and javelin 49.61m. Williamson added a hammer throw performance 44.71m which placed him 20th overall. The team was ecstatic to see Williamson back in the circle, as this was his first meet back from injury.
Some distance guys also ran well. Specifically, senior co-captain Marshall Pagano in the 3k steeplechase, and sophomore Luke O’Connor in the 5000m both had very pleasing early-season performances. Pagano ran 9:47.05 and earned a 7th place finish while O’Connor ran 15:03.38 for 6th place. Senior Colin McCrory also posted a huge 22 second PR of 15:06 in what was perhaps the performance of the meet. A year of solid mileage and workouts have set McCrory up for an excellent outdoor season.
The jumpers also fared well in Myrtle Beach. Freshman Linus Gordon won the unseeded flight of the long jump in a PR 6.55 meters, which should put him in a scoring position if he can repeat that performance at the NESCAC Championships.
While the squad may not have been thrilled to return back to chilly New England, they are very excited to build on their performances in South Carolina and continue to improve. Up next for the Jumbos is the annual Snowflake Classic held at Tufts on 3/28.



Full Results