Field Events Strong at All New England Championships
(5/13/2006) Full ResultsA small squad was in competition at the All New England Championships hosted by MIT. The field events were particularly strong for the Jumbos this weekend. With some excellent performance, Tufts placed seventh with 40 points in a field that included teams from Division I, II and III.
After a few weeks off, Fielding Pagel or 'Skip' returned to competition. The freshman was slated to take part in his second collegiate decathlon. On Day 1, Skip performed well in the 100 meter dash, Long Jump and 400 meter Dash. His time of 11.88 was impressive, especially considering that he had to run the race twice because of errors with the timing system. After the 100, Skip had PR's in both the Long Jump and 400 meter dash (19-5.25 and 51.70). At the end of Day 1, Skip scored 3044 points. That total was nearly 400 points ahead of his Day one total at the Hillside relays, and just four points behind the leader from Dartmouth College. On Day 2, Skip did not disappoint. He began the day with a huge PR in the 110 hurdles in a time of 16.44, and later vaulted 12'01. At the end of the competition, Skip totaled 5907 points to capture the victory. His 5907 eclipsed his score from Hillside Relays by 791 points, and was just 93 points of the National Provisional standard.
Also competing on Friday was senior captain Jason Galvin. He continued his stellar season with a performance of 171-10 in the Hammer throw. While not his best distance, Jason placed fifth in the competitive field.
The Long Jump was contested on Friday afternoon. Fred Jones placed sixth with a jump of 6.95/22-9.75. Fred fouled two jumps that were much farther. Hopefully next week Fred can land a legal jump and stop teasing the rest of us.
Meanwhile, captain Trevor Williams was on the track running against New England's best in the 400 Hurdles. In less than ideal conditions, Trevor ran his fastest time since 2004 (55.76).
On Saturday, the weather took a turn for the worse. The rain that was expected all weekend finally came. The meet officials were well aware of this and had good foresight to move the Saturday's jumping events indoors. Seniors Timothy Bassell and Rob Lorie were the Tufts entrants in the Pole Vault. Tim and Rob had to deal with a lofty starting height of 13-5.25. Rob cleared entry height but missed all attempts at 13-11.25. Tim tied his lifetime PR at 13-11.25. This time however, the clearance was much cleaner.
A trio of Jumbos competed in the High Jump. James Bradley continued to perform well with a clearance of 6-02. After a frustrating outdoor season, Freshman Ted McMahan had to use his indoor mark to qualify for this meet. Ted made the most of the opportunity however. He cleared 6-02 and 6-04 on his first attempts. He was very close to 6-06 as well. His efforts this weekend qualified him for next week's ECAC championship. Sophomore Jeremy Arak continued to lead the High Jumper contingent. He tied for second with a jump of 6-06. Arak is still looking for a jump that will get him to nationals.
Fred Jones returned on Saturday to compete in the Triple Jump. He was joined by sophomore Dan Marcy. Dan had a great series and placed 5th overall with his final jump of 14.30/46-11. Fred had his best day Triple Jumping in quite some time. He jumped to a season's best of 14.69/48-02.5. With some work on his landing, Fred stands to do well in the next few weeks. Dan has just one more chance to earn a berth to the NCAA Championships. He hopes to clinch one at ECAC's.
The 4x4 relay team of Patrick Mahoney, Dustin Virgilio, Bradley and Williams closed out the meet for Tufts. By the time the relay came around, the track was soaked and the drainage system overflowed. The runners had to deal with long puddles in lane 1. Nevertheless, the squad ran to a season's best time of 3:22.1.
Next week, an even smaller group of Jumbos will travel to Springfield for the ECAC championships. This meet marks the last chance for several athletes to qualify for the NCAA championships.
Full Results