Men’s, women’s track and field see strong early season performances in 2nd week

On Saturday, the men’s and women’s track and field teams traveled to Wheaton College in Norton, Mass., to compete in the Wheaton Invitational, the second full meet of the season for both teams. 

The men’s team performed well across the board, ending the day with 24 top five finishes in nearly every event. While the meet did not feature team scoring, impressive individual performances put the athletes in a good position heading into the upcoming invitational meets.

The young talent on the men's team was on display in both the track and field events at the Wheaton Invitational. First-years Joe Pizzi and Evan Ensslin captured second place in the 200 meters and 1,000 meters, respectively. In the field events, first-year Carter Rosewell won the long jump at 22 feet one-fourth inches, while fellow first-year Marcus Hardy won the triple jump at 42 feet, 3 1/4 inches.

Tufts was especially dominant in the 800-meter race, with four Jumbos finishing in the top 10 in this event.Senior Matt D’Anieri was the top Tufts runner, finishing in fourth place with a time of 1 minute 54.80 seconds. Senior co-captain Roman Lovell, who placed ninth with a time of 1:59.01, said that having so many Jumbo runners in this particular event contributed to their success.

“Any time we can get a bunch of guys in the same event it is exciting,” Lovell said. “From the people competing pushing each other, to the rest of the ream rallying around them and chanting things like ‘go,’ the team helps elicit great showings.”

The Jumbos are still early in their season and Lovell said that the team hopes to build off this weekend’s success in the coming weeks.

“With this being just the second meet, we want to keep the big picture in mind," Lovell said. "This involves using the performances from these early meets as jumping-off points, to motivate us to continue putting in work and not settle.”

The women’s track and field team also had an impressive day at the Wheaton Invitational, especially from the younger athletes. The team was notably stronger in the field events, which accounted for five of the Jumbos’ eight first-place finishes.

First-year Lia Rotti had an outstanding meet as she captured first place in both the long jump (17 feet, 9 3/4 inches) and pole vault (10 feet, 8 inches) events.

The Jumbos were dominant in the weight throw, too, capturing three of the top five spots.First-year Gabriella Pearl recorded a mark of 43 feet, 7 inches to take first place, and first-year Otega Amudo (41 feet, 8 3/4 inches) and junior Nkem Aduka (39 feet, 8 inches) finished in third and fifth place, respectively.

Junior Melissa Rowland’s mile performance was a highlight of the running events, as she set a personal record of 5:17.51 to take first place.

First-years Kate Bidgood and Lexi Quinn won the 1,000 meters and 3000 meters races, respectively. Bidgood finished with a time of 3:11.26 and Quinn recorded an impressive 10:49.96, besting the second-place runner by nearly 24 seconds.

Senior co-captain Rhemi Toth, who did not compete in the meet on Saturday, said the Wheaton Invitational was a success for the team.

“Overall, the team did very well,” Toth said. “We had many people qualify for the New England Div. III meet which is very exciting. Additionally, in the weight throw, all of the throwers qualified for the final.”

One day prior, on Friday, eight members of the women’s team traveled to Boston University (BU) to compete in the John Thomas Terrier Classic, which featured Div. I, II and III athletes from schools across the nation.

Among the eight Tufts athletes competing were Toth and senior co-captain Julia Gake.Toth competed in the 1000 meters race, placing 26th with a time of 2:57.71, while Gake competed in the 500 meters, finishing 30th with a time of 1:18.37. Sophomore Luana Machado also raced in the 500 meters, finishing in 25th place — the best of four Jumbos in the race — with a time of 1:17.58.

Given that this meet did not feature team scoring, athletes used it as an opportunity to challenge their own personal bests, according to Toth.

“The BU meet is mostly geared towards individuals rather than the team,” Toth said. “BU has one of the fastest tracks in the country and the competition at the BU meets are always very competitive. Those of us who competed on Friday went in wanting to run some fast times early in the season and I think we accomplished that goal.”

The team is looking forward to upcoming meets featuring team scoring, including the Branwen Smith-King Invitational next weekend. Tufts will host the meet — named after the former women's track and field coach, women's cross country coach and assistant director of Athletics — at the Gantcher Center on Friday and Saturday.

“The Bran meet is definitely bigger than the events this weekend,” Toth said. “The meet is scored, and we’ll be facing off against many other teams from New England. It will be a great early season test for us as a team.”

While the Branwen Smith-King Invitational will be the main focus of the weekend, members of both the men's and women's teams will also be competing at the New England Intercollegiate Amateur Athletic Association Championships (NEICAAA) at the Reggie Lewis Center in Boston.