Jumbos Welcome Resurfaced Gantcher with Records in Sight
(1/16/2017 3:06 PM) Full ResultsThis past Saturday, January 14th, marked the beginning of the 2017 indoor track and field competitions for the Jumbos, and it was also the first home meet for our newly resurfaced facility!
Overall, it was a strong start for the team. In the sprint events, there were several standout performances: senior Blake Coolidge recorded a personal best in the prelims of the 60 meter dash, and he tied the school record in the finals, running a time of 7.04. Freshman Robert Jones also competed in the 60 meter dash, running a #2 freshman all-time mark of 7.27, also good for the #6 all-time mark at Tufts. In the 200 meter dash, Coolidge and junior Andrew DiMaiti took first and second place with times of 22.42 and 22.91, respectively. That mark for Coolidge put him at #7 all-time. DiMaiti gave another strong performance in the 400 meters, winning in a time of 50.41 to qualify for the DIII New England Indoor Championships along with Coolidge who hit marks in both the 60m and 200m.
The distance events were highlighted by several strong performances in the 3000 meter run. Finishing first for the Jumbos was sophomore Colin Raposo. Raposo notched a second place finish in a time of 8:58.23, a strong 3000 meter debut. Junior Sam Little and sophomore Andrew Doherty Munro both ran big personal bests in the race, finishing in fourth and sixth place with times of 9:00.99 and 9:09.05, respectively. Raposo, Little, and Doherty Munro, along with four other Jumbos in the heat, ran competitive races that brought excitement for what’s to come in the later part of the season. Senior Chris Warren also had a standout performance in the 3000 meters, nearly matching his PR at the very first meet of the season (9:38.38 on Saturday just off his best of 9:37.70); Warren had a strong, consistent race that ended with an exciting final lap.
In the field events, there were quite a few top all-time marks. In the shot put, freshman Kevin Quisumbing gave an outstanding performance in his first meet as Jumbo. Quisumbing had the furthest throw for Tufts and came in fourth overall, recording personal bests five times in a row and finishing with a throw of 15.39 meters. This mark puts him at #2 freshman all-time and #3 all-time at Tufts. In the high jump, sophomore Charlie Pennington notched a second place finish with a jump of 1.88 meters (6 feet 2 inches), putting him just outside of the top 10 all time for Tufts.
Along with DiMaiti, Coolidge, Quisumbing, and Pennington, six additional Jumbos hit marks that qualify them for the Division III New England championship (which will be held at Tufts on February 17-18!): Junior Shant Mahrokhian in the long jump (second place finish of 6.36 meters), sophomore Tommy Miller in the long jump (fourth place finish of 6.35 meters), sophomore Tommy Doyle in the 600 meters (third place finish of 1:25.39), sophomore Hiroto Watanabe in the 1000 meters (fourth place finish of 2:34.82), senior Michael Paloian in the weight throw (14.88 meters), and senior Ife Adebayo in the weight throw (14.49 meters). We are excited to have so many post-season qualifiers after just one meet!
Our next competition will be on Saturday, January 21st at the Bowdoin Invitational in Brunswick, Maine!
Full Results