The men's track team went somewhere no Tufts team had gone in 15 years.
Propelled by the leadership of tri-captains Fred Jones, Dave McCleary and Nate Cleveland, Tufts forced a tie with a Williams squad that had taken home the outright NESCAC title in 14 of the last 15 years. This year, the two teams emerged with identical point totals of 197.5 in the April 28 event, giving the Jumbos their first share of the conference title since 1991.
"We definitely overachieved for the season," McCleary said in an e-mail to the Daily. "Winning NESCACs and placing second at Div. III New Englands were performances we were hoping for but not expecting."
Tufts freshman Jesse Faller emerged as the hero of the meet, as the championship came down to the final event: the distance medley relay. Faller's relay team fell far behind its counterparts from Williams and Bowdoin, which finished first and second, but the rookie Jumbo needed a third-place finish for his Tufts team to preserve a tie in the meet.
The race came down to the final second, and Faller barely out-raced the Middlebury relay squad in the end. As Faller closed out the team's time of 10:24.55, he was mobbed at the finish line by his ecstatic teammates.
That was just one of the many memorable moments for a Tufts crew that put together a string of promising results - among them a win at the Coast Guard Invitational, and a second-place finish at the Div. III New England Championships - which sent the team's graduating seniors out with a bang.
After NESCACs, the Jumbos once again hit their strides, this time at the New England Div. III Championship event. Although the Ephs jumped out in front, leading the way with 137.5 points, Tufts edged host Springfield College for the second-place finish.
Freshman Andrew Longley anchored the team, securing both titles for the Jumbos. After running 55.5 seconds in the 400-meter hurdles, Longley joined senior Dustin Virgilio, junior Nathan Scott and sophomore James Bradley in racing the 4x400-meter relay in 3:22.1.
"Andrew is a great runner," McCleary said. "He has been working hard all season long. The results show that. He has a bright future ahead of him at Tufts, and as long as he continues to lift weights and train, he should be a top competitor in Div. III."
In addition to the two victories, the depth of the Jumbo squad propelled the team to the front of the pack. Jones was once again on top of his game, bettering the provisional standard in the long jump with a leap of 23'4.5".
He was not alone, however, as junior Dan Marcy hit the provisional mark in the triple jump, and junior Derek Engelking, sophomore Skip Pagel and freshman Jared Engelking provisionally qualified in the decathlon. Junior Dave Sorensen improved his provisional qualifying time in the 3000-meter steeplechase to move into the nation's No. 11 slot.
Both Jones and Pagel struck again at the All-New England Championship meet, where each earned a second-place finish to lead the team. While Jones was the runner-up in the long jump, going 23'3.25", Pagel surpassed his personal best in the decathlon, tallying 6,448 points to rank ninth in the nation.
After impressive performances thus far throughout the championship season, the Jumbos' focus will turn to the individual events as the team looks ahead to the season's climax: Div. III Championships. The team expects to send multiple competitors to Nationals, including Jones, who has qualified provisionally in both the long and triple jumps. If all goes well, the meet will mark Jones' eighth and final time on the national stage.
Although the Jumbos have a solid junior class waiting to fill the void of the graduating seniors, the team will lose some of its key athletes and leaders, including Jones.
"Fred sees the potential in every single one of the guys, whether you're a freshman who has never competed in a championship meet, or a senior who has been to Nationals 12 times," coach Ethan Barron said. "Fred was a huge part in helping some of our greener athletes blossom this year, and in helping some of them become huge contributing factors to the team."
Though they will be missed after their departure, Barron's seniors will go out on a high note.
"As a team, our season was great," McCleary said. "Most guys had personal bests. We won NESCACs and finished strong in Div. III New Englands, and personally, I could not have asked for a better season to end my career on."
Will Karas contributed reporting to this article.
