The men's track and field team is coming off a successful 2006-07 indoor season in which it finished in a tie for seventh at the NCAA Championships.
Despite all the success, the team came in second place at the New England Div. III Championships for the fourth straight year, and this year Tufts has its sights set on finally getting over the hump.
"We want to do our best in the Div. III meet this year," senior quad-captain Dave Sorensen said. "Our goal was to win it last year, and that's our goal again this year. If we all work hard, we can improve upon last season."
That goal will not be so easy to attain, however, as the Jumbos lost a number of talented seniors and will have some big shoes to fill.
In distance, the team will have to overcome the graduation of Justin Chung and All-American Josh Kennedy. The burden will fall on Sorensen and sophomore Jesse Faller, the latter coming off a cross country season in which he earned All-American honors.
As most cross-country runners transfer to indoor track and field in the winter, the team is hoping to build off of its successful fall campaign, in which it finished third at the New England Championship and qualified for NCAAs.
Beyond top runners Faller and Sorensen, the team will also look for contributions from senior Chris Kantos, sophomores Nick Welch, Billy Hale and Ryan Lena and freshmen Greg Pallotta, Jerzy Eisenberg-Guyot and Jeff Ragazzini. Pallotta worked his way into the cross country team's top five in only his first season.
"We're definitely looking to be a very strong part of the program," Welch said. "Last year we didn't contribute as much as we could have, so it's a goal for the distance group to really put up a lot of points in 800 meters and up. We're looking to be scoring and running with the best guys in the region."
In terms of sprints, the team will try to improve in what has traditionally been its weakest area.
"Our sprinting depth was an issue last year," Sorensen said. "We had great depth in hurdles and high jump, but in terms of scoring points we want to produce more from sprinting."
The Jumbos have several runners returning from injury and hoping to make an impact. Senior quad-captain Nate Scott suffered an ACL injury last year but is healthy and ready to contribute this year. Also, junior sprinter Will Forde had to fight through a shoulder injury last year, and he now looks to make a strong comeback.
In addition, sophomore Andrew Longley was one of the team's strongest sprinters and hurdlers last year and will be looking to improve upon his fine freshman season.
"I'm having some of the best workouts of my career," Longley said. "I expect a very strong year in the hurdles, and we're looking to have a strong season on the whole."
In the jumping events, the team hopes for continued success in what has been its strongest suit for the past few years, but that may be difficult with the graduation of former tri-captain Fred Jones. Jones was easily the team's best athlete last year, as he was the only Jumbo to qualify for Indoor NCAAs and was a nine-time All-American in his time at Tufts.
"We were thinking a lot about the loss of Jones as a team," Longley said. "Our main competitor, Williams, is also losing their stud, Branden Mirach, and they don't really have anyone to replace him. But we have someone in [senior quad-captain] Dan Marcy who could replace Jones. He was an All-American sophomore year and was hampered by injuries last year. He's stronger and faster this year, and I feel like he's going to have the best year of his career."
"I don't think it's possible to fill Fred's shoes," Scott said. "But Dan Marcy has been looking really good. I think he's going to be the one to pick up where Fred left off."
Along with Marcy, senior quad-captain Jeremy Arak, who qualified for Nationals two years ago, will also be counted on to help replace Jones' production.
The team will test the waters for the first time Saturday at the Husky Invitational at Northeastern University. Although it's the initial meet of the season, it will not carry a great deal of significance.
"We don't have the whole team competing," Sorensen said. "It's just going to be a good early-season indicator of where we're at and what needs to be done in the coming months. It's really just going to tell us where we are and what we need to do over break so we can make a strong march in 2008."
