Looking Back (FEB 28) | Men's and Women's Track Distance Medley Relay
The men's and women's distance medley relay (DMR) teams had a weekend to remember at the New England Open Championships. Although both indoor track and field teams placed outside the top 10 overall, the women's DMR took first place while the men's DMR finished third.
The women's DMR time of 11:56.72 placed them atop a field of Div. I, II and III teams at the meet and a full second ahead of the second-place University of New Hampshire. The mark set by sophomore Amy Wilfert, senior Halsey Stebbins, senior tri-captain Jackie Ferry and sophomore Stephanie McNamara was largely improved from their previous NCAA provisional qualifying time of 12:08.69.
On the men's side, the Jumbos set a school-record time of 9:59.33, which is also an NCAA provisional qualifying mark. The six points scored by the DMR team were the only points scored by the Jumbos all day. Senior Phil Rotella and juniors Scott Brinkman, Jesse Faller and Billy Hale took part in the race, beating out the old program record of 10:00.05.
Tufts will host ECAC Championships next week before sending representatives off to NCAA Championships at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in Terre Haute, Ind.
Looking Ahead (MARCH 6) | Cleveland Cavaliers at Boston Celtics
The two best teams in the Eastern Conference, the Boston Celtics and the Cleveland Cavaliers, will square off tomorrow night at the TD Banknorth Garden.
The rivalry between the teams has escalated since the Celtics eliminated the Cavs from the playoffs last year in an epic seven-game series in the conference semifinals. The Celtics held home-court advantage in that series, and they will be the favorite in tomorrow night's matchup, as neither team has beaten the other on the road since January of 2007 when the Cavs won 107-104 in Boston.
The Cavs are led by none other than LeBron James, who has averaged 30 points against the Celtics so far this year. Meanwhile, the Celtics will be without one of their Big Three, as the team has yet to set a return date for Kevin Garnett, who has been out since he strained his right knee Feb. 19 against Utah.
The game could be a preview of this year's conference finals as the Cavs and Celtics, the two best defensive teams in the league, have set themselves apart from the rest of the pack, with the Orlando Magic the only team separated by less than 10 games.
