Despite less-than-ideal conditions, the men's track and field team posted solid marks on Saturday at the George Davis Invitational hosted by UMass Lowell.
"It was windy and cold, so it was not great conditions for a track meet, but everyone competed tough until the end, and I think that attitude will pay off big time as the weather warms up and as they go deeper into the season," assistant coach Dan Murner said. "There were definite improvements in all the event groups, which is what we're looking for right now."
The top finish for the Jumbos in the non-scoring meet came from senior tri-captain Adam Aronson, who launched his hammer throw 171-2 to claim the runner-up spot. Aronson has made vast improvements in the event this season, earning a new personal best in each of the team's three meets.
Junior Curtis Yancy supported Aronson in the weight throw, taking fifth with a toss of 153-6. Freshman Brian Williamson placed seventh in the shot put with a heave of 44-9 3/4.
On the track, the squad earned seven top-eight finishes, all from underclassmen. Sophomore Ben Wallis grabbed third place in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, crossing the line with a time of 9:34.85.
The Jumbos also fared well in the 5,000-meter race. Sophomore Brian McLaughlin led the way for Tufts, and his time of 15:15.03 was good for fourth in the event.
"I thought it was a good race," McLaughlin said "I PR'd by 13 seconds from my previous best. I wanted to run a little faster ... but overall it was a good start to the season."
Backing up McLaughlin were classmate Bobby McShane and freshman Darryl Varney, who earned sixth and seventh with times of 15:17.79 and 15:23.43, respectively.
"At the start, there was a lot of pushing, so the first half mile everyone was pushing to try to get up to the front pack. ... I eventually just went out to lane three and stayed up with the lead pack for the first two miles," McLaughlin said. "A guy from Birmingham separated himself from the lead pack with three-quarters of a mile to go, and then I heard Bobby and Darryl right behind me, which was cool, and that motivated me to kick it in hard."
Freshman PtahOsayande earned another fourth-place finish for Tufts, needing 55.93 seconds to complete his first 400-meter hurdles race. The time was a promising start to Osayande's 400-meter hurdling career, as it placed him on Tufts' top 10 all-time performance list for the outdoor season.
Also on the track, sophomore Graham Beutler took sixth in the 400-meter dash, crossing the finish line in 51.41 seconds, while freshman Evan Cover notched an impressive 800-meter finish, taking 1:56.74 to place eighth.
While the rest of the squad was at UMass Lowell, three Jumbos traveled to Princeton this past weekend for the Sam Howell Invitational, where they also delivered impressive results.
On Saturday, junior Jeff Marvel won the 1,500-meter run with a time of 3:54.65, the ninth-best result in the nation so far this season.
Classmates Kyle Marks and Tyler Andrews posted solid marks in the longer events on Friday afternoon. Marks finished the 5,000-meter run in 14:48.34, taking 29th in the meet and besting Marks' previous top time by six seconds. In the 10,000-meter run, Andrews shaved 42 seconds off his previous personal best, finishing in 30:57.93, good for 25th.
The squad will reunite for the Skyhawk Classic at Stonehill College on Saturday, and the Jumbos will also host the Tufts Decathlon on Saturday and Sunday on the Dussault Track.
"The weather looks like it could be good, and [this weekend] will be a great opportunity to compete and get some guys on the NESCAC depth chart," Murner said. "We're putting a lot of our distance guys into a 1,500 that is going to be paced by Jeff [Marvel], who just ran 3:54."
"[We want to see] a nice progression from last weekend, a good effort and a good step towards NESCACs," McLaughlin said.
