Men’s Track and Field | Jumbos impress at Princeton, UMass Lowell

Coming off a second-place finish at the Snowflake Invitational at Ellis Oval, the Tufts men’s track and field team split up this weekend, sending six competitors to represent at Princeton’s Sam Howell Invitational on Friday and the remaining to the following day’s UMass Lowell’s George Davis Invitational. Neither meet was scored, so the weekend provided an opportunity for each athlete to focus solely on shaving off seconds or adding distance.

And with the Princeton meet featuring athletes across all three major collegiate divisions, three of the six Tufts athletes posted personal bests.

Senior Matt Rand improved the most out of the three, notching a personal record by 17 seconds in the 10,000. Though he finished eighth in the field of 27, his time of 30:09.27 makes him one of only two runners in Tufts history to have gained entry into the sub-30:10 club. Additionally, Rand’s time ranks third nationally thus far and will likely qualify him for the NCAA Championships.

“It would have been nice to break the 30:00 barrier, but I was still pleased with my time,” Rand said. “How I perform in this event at NESCACs and NCAAs will define my season, so that’s what I’m focused on now.”

A few seconds behind Rand in the 10,000, classmate Tyler Andrews crossed the line with a time of 30:24.57 to take 15th. That time ranks eighth nationally and will also likely land him a spot at the NCAAs.

Junior Jamie Norton, the second of the three to set a personal best, recorded a time of 3:53.78 in the 1,500, which currently stands atop the national leaderboard for Div. III. While Norton’s stellar time has all others in his rearview mirror for the time being, it will almost certainly need to be improved in order to guarantee him a spot at NCAAs.

The 1,500 featured a down-to-the-wire-finish, as Norton, who finished fourth, and the top-three finishers all crossed the line within a second of one another. Norton was the only non-Div. I competitor to end up among the top seven, with junior Jordan Schilit of Haverford securing the eighth position.

Fifth-year senior Connor Rose competed in the 1,500 as well, clocking a time of 4:05.19, which was good enough for 38th.

The 5,000 included the third and final personal best among the Jumbos, as junior Ben Wallis eclipsed his prior best time by four seconds on his way to a time of 14:51.90. Senior Kyle Marks also ran the event, placing 44th with a time of 15:01.39, capping off an impressive day for Tufts.

The next day’s George Davis Invitational, restricted to Div. III schools from around the region, was not quite as competitive as the night before for the Jumbos, but that paved the way for two wins and 11 top-five finishes across various events on Saturday, spearheaded by senior tri-captain Brad Nakanishi and sophomore Brian Williamson.

Nakanishi cleared 14 feet 11 inches for a victory in the pole vault, outstripping the second-place finisher by nearly six inches. This clearance height matches Nakanishi’s personal best from the outdoor season of his sophomore year, but he has yet to return to his career best of 16 feet 1 inch, which he cleared last outdoor season.

In the shot put, Williamson’s throw of 48 feet 11 1/2 inches was enough for him to emerge victorious over Northeastern’s throwing duo of sophomore Kevin Rosenberg and senior Mark Mastone who finished second and third, respectively.

“I was definitely satisfied with my performance given the cold weather at the meet,” Williamson said. “It was good to know — especially in shot — that I can still throw well for myself in less than optimal conditions. I also learned a lot about what I really need to work on in practice in the coming weeks in order to be more successful individually and to be able to contribute to the team and help make something special happen at Ellis in three weeks’ time.”

Elsewhere off the track, junior Matt Johnson nabbed second place in the javelin with a throw of 175 feet 8 inches; senior tri-captain Curtis Yancy placed third in the discus with a heave of an even 141 feet, and fourth in the hammer throw with a distance of 168 feet 10 inches; and fellow senior Gbola Ajayi leaped 21 feet 5 1/4 inches into fifth place in the long jump.

Ajayi in particular regressed about a foot from last week’s performance, but, rather than attributing that to a dip in form, the shorter jump was in large part due to the poor conditions and nagging injuries.

“My performance this week was not as good as last week’s because of the conditions,” Ajayi said. “I have been nursing a few slight knocks, and the cold made it rather difficult to try [to] get warm and stay warm. I just could not seem to get my muscles fully warm, and so I was robbed of some of my speed and explosiveness.”

“I think I will get back over 23 feet,” he added. “A few hot days and a meet with nice weather and a decent tail wind would hopefully do the trick.”

Though Tufts earned its two victories and a slew of top-five finishes in the field events, it also experienced its fair share of success on the track.

Senior Sam Haney finished third in the 5,000 with his time of 15:16.90, the highest Tufts finish in any running event on the day.

The 5,000 was the Jumbos’ best event in terms of depth, with three other athletes aside from Haney finishing among the top 10. Sophomore Marshall Pagano secured the next highest finish, his time of 15:29.01 fast enough for fifth.

And in the sprints, senior Vinnie Lee ran the 200 in 23.33 to finish fifth, while junior Graham Beutler ran the 100 in 11.28 to finish fourth.

The Jumbos will look to build off these impressive performances when they reunite this coming Saturday at Brown University for the Springtime Invitational.