The men's track and field team continued its march toward the end of the season this weekend, participating in two different meets on Saturday. While a majority of the team journeyed to Maine, finishing second out of five teams at the Bowdoin Invitational, five middle-and long-distance runners participated in the BU Terrier Invitational at Boston University.
The squad did not waste its opportunity to compete with teams from all three NCAA divisions at the Terrier Invitational, compiling strong performances across the board.
"With our one double-header of the season, the team performed very well and took another small step forward to achieving our ultimate goals," coach Ethan Barron said. "We were able to come away with more qualifying marks and PRs, which is always the mark of a successful meet."
Tufts secured second place at the Bowdoin Invitational, finishing with 127.5 points, just behind MIT's first-place 167.5 points.
Individual efforts from such runners as freshman Ikenna Acholonu, senior tri-captain Fred Jones, and sophomore Colin Fitzgerald, who all finished first in their respective events, highlighted the Jumbos' effort.
Acholonu continued to perform, taking home first in the 55-meter hurdles in 7.92 seconds, while Jones and Fitzgerald claimed first in the triple jump and 400-meter dash, respectively. Freshman Jared Engelking was right on Acholonu's heels, earning the silver medal with a time of 7.95 seconds.
"Ikenna has had a very strong start to the season as have many of his classmates and teammates," Barron said. "We've had many impressive performances so far, but the true test of this team will come in the upcoming weeks when the competition steps up."
"From the first meet, Ikenna has put up great times," senior tri-captain Nate Cleveland added. "He keeps improving and having [coach] Ethan [Barron] as his coach has definitely helped speed up his development."
Junior Dave Sorensen, who finished first in the 5000-meter run, and sophomore James Bradley, who won the high jump, rounded out the Jumbos' impressive performance.
Still, the team was not totally satisfied with the outcome.
"Some people underperformed and didn't reach expectations," senior tri-captain David McCleary said, "But overall we did very well."
In addition to the solid Jumbo effort at Bowdoin, the five distance runners representing Tufts recorded a few stellar performances of their own at the competitive BU Terrier Invitational. Led by Cleveland, and seniors Josh Kennedy, Chad Uy, and Dan Sullivan and freshman Nick Welch, the Jumbos proved that they could compete with the best.
Cleveland (1:55.42) and Sullivan (1:59.06) placed 15th and 34th out of 70 runners in the 800-meter run, while Kennedy (8:39.54), and Welch (8:41.83) finished 34th and 38th out of a field of 95 in the 3000-meter run. Uy rounded out the pack, finishing 29th out of 44 in the 5000-meter run with a time of 15:29.96.
"We did really well as a group," Cleveland said. "We ran well and did great against a pack of runners that included Div. I athletes and even some professional runners. The higher competition was definitely great practice for us.
"The team has come along very well this season," Cleveland continued. "We are right where we should be and our freshmen are doing absolutely great. They have done really well adjusting to the higher competition and the more stressful academic demands."
With January under its belt, the team, confident in its performance so far, is preparing for the most demanding part of its schedule.
"We are in a great position right now," McCleary said. "We are set up to have a good run during the championship season and as long we can get over injuries, we'll be fine."
Before they suit up for the New England Div. III Championship on Feb. 16, the Jumbos have three more meets in which to fine-tune their skills, starting with the Tufts Stampede on Saturday.
"Every effort is an important one," Barron said. "At this point we're working on qualifying as many athletes as possible for the championships. We'll look to these next few meets as an opportunity to do exactly that. They will help our staff solidify our lineup and subsequently give Tufts the best chance to bring home a championship."
