Men's track and field team continues to adjust to outdoor season

The men's track and field team almost did not participate in a meet this weekend due to inclement weather on Saturday. But the weather improved enough on Sunday for the postponed Springfield Invitational to take place.

Unlike two weekends ago at the Husky Spring Open at Northeastern, where the team raced against several Div I squads, the Jumbos raced against fellow Div III teams at the Invitational. But, similar to the Husky Spring Open, it was a non-scoring meet.

"The biggest problem that we faced was Mother Nature," senior tri-captain Greg Devine said. "It's been cold and windy. We much prefer sunny and warm, but we take what we can get."

Assistant coach Ethan Barron reiterated the fact that the team is facing weather problems, but is optimistic that once the weather gets warmer, runners will get faster.

"We haven't had a good meet weather wise," Barron said. "I'm hoping this weekend the sun will come out. Our guys are performing unbelievable under these conditions."

Indoor All-Americans and senior tri-captains Devine and Bryan Pitko once again took the lead for the Jumbos, placing first and second in the 110-meter hurdles with respectable times of 15.28 and 15.39 respectively. They also jointed each other in the 400 hurdles, this time with Devine (56.80) once again taking first, but Pitko (59.85) dropping one slot to third.

"The 400 hurdles has been my race coming out of high school," Devine said. "I've always associated myself with the intermediate hurdles. The high hurdles is just something coach wants me to do to help contribute to the team."

To go along with Devine and Pitko's performances, sophomore Ray Carre has continued to improve in every race in order to peak for the NESCAC meet. At Springfield, Carre placed second in both the 200 and 400 with times of 22.87 and 50.87 respectively.

"Ray's been a consistent contributor to the team," Devine said. "Again the cold weather affected his performance. I expect good things out of him in the next two weeks."

Freshman Shawn Hansberry also competed in the 400, finishing fifth with a time of 52.46. Fellow freshman Patrick Mahoney entered the 800 without a seedtime, but that did not stop him from running to a second place finish in a time of 2:02.99.

The 4x100 relay team composed of Pitko, Devine, freshman Trevor Williams, and Carre nearly snatched victory from Springfield's A lineup, but fell tenths of a second short to finish second. Springfield's squad posted a time of 44.23 to Tufts' time of 44.61.

There were 29 participants in the 1500, with Tufts placing two runners in the top four. Senior tri-captain Adam Sharp chose not to experiment with the 3000 steeplechase, as he did last weekend, and stuck to his bread and butter. It only took Sharp 4:14.38 to cross the finish line, good enough for second place. Freshman Matt Lacey, who ran at the same track numerous times in high school, was a little over two minutes behind Sharp as he checked in at fourth place in a time of 4:16.61.

"That was a great race," Barron said. "Sharp and Lacey went back and forth. There was a horrible headwind hindering any race that used the whole track. They each took turns with the leads. I think if we get a good day weather wise they will throw down some good times."

Two weekends ago at Northeastern, junior Peter Jurczynski ran the 3000 steeplechase in a time of 10:07.96. Last weekend, Jurczynski continued to display signs of progress in the event as he shaved precious seconds off his previous time to 9:55.50. He finished fourth in the event.

Although there were many good performances in inclement weather at Springfield, Devine believes this season's team can be much better because of its diehard work ethic.

"Our training has been so intense and productive that we'll improve upon all our performances and places as we go," Devine said.

Devine also believes the throwing team has improved substantially from last year. He feels it was good last year, but it is even better this year. This improvement was displayed as members of the field team scored several points for the team last weekend.

Senior Andy Dickerson tied for first place in the men's discuss throw with Springfield's Ken Morin. Both athletes propelled the discuss 37.74m. Also seizing first place in a field event was sophomore Dan March. He showed excellent control of the hammer enabling him to toss it 48.92m. Senior Adam Lukowski and freshman Brandon Udelhofen also faired well in the discuss event, placing third (36.88m) and sixth (35.08m) respectively.

Sophomore Nate Thompson was a double threat in jumping events. He placed second in the triple jump with a series of bounds that landed him 12.37m from his starting point. He also finished fourth in the long jump, with one bound that carried him 6.22m.

The team's next meet is at the Central Connecticut Invitational, which takes place tomorrow. While every meet is important, Devine stressed that the team's ultimate goal is to prepare for the NESCAC Championships, which will take place Apr. 26 and 27 at Williams College.

"Given the results of the indoor Div. III's, I feel have good shot at winning," Devine said. "The pressure is on Williams to defend its title."