Jumbos continue dominance at home with strong individual performances at Cupid Challenge

Many athletes will tell you that there is nothing like the advantage of competing at home, and the men's track and field team certainly agrees after the first three home meets they've had so far this season. After roaring out to a dominant start in the first two weeks of the season with first-place finishes at the Tufts Invitational on Jan. 16 and the Tufts Stampede on Jan. 30, the Jumbos continued their successful start at home on Saturday. The team hosted the Tufts Cupid Challenge in the Gantcher Center, and while there was no team scoring for the meet, the Jumbos produced a slew of dominant personal performances that were all too familiar on their home track.

Headlining those performances was senior Veer Bhalla, whose 1:52.32 time in the 800-meter race was the best Div. III time in the nation so far this season. According to Bhalla, competing and having success at home is particularly sweet for the Jumbos.

"We do really well at home because we're all very comfortable with the atmosphere, and we all know where our teammates are going to be competing so it's easier to go and cheer them on," Bhalla said.

This was another impressive meet for Bhalla, who has already turned in a number of first-place finishes for the Jumbos so far this season. Bhalla was most proud of his performance in this meet though, as he rises to the top of the nation in the 800.

"I was very happy with that result," Bhalla said. "My goal was to have the fastest time in the country after the race, just given where I've been this season. I actually spend a lot of time looking at the national rankings, so I knew how fast I needed to run and I knew that I was well under the best time when I finished the race."

Bhalla's performance was exceptionally stellar, but he was not alone in what was a successful day for Tufts. According to senior sprinter and long-jumper Bryson Hoover-Hankerson, a host of Jumbos gave promising performances on Saturday, including junior Tim Nichols' victory in the 5000-meter in 14:34.05 and junior Luke O'Connor's win in the 3000-meter event.

While Bhalla's best-in-the-nation 800 stole the show, Nichols and O'Connor also placed in the top 10 in the nation, which furthers the argument that Tufts is one of the top teams in country this year. Nichols victory in the 5k earned him third overall in the nation while O'Connor's win landed him the seventh spot nationally.

"The mid-distance and distance runners did very well today," Hoover-Hankerson said. "So overall, a pretty good day."

The Jumbos turned in an extensive list of top-five finishes at the Cupid Challenge.

Hoover-Hankerson also spoke highly of junior Blake Coolidge, who finished second in the 60-meter dash preliminaries. Coolidge unfortunately strained his quadricep towards the end of the 60-meter finals and finished the race in seventh.

"I felt like Blake was having a really good meet before he strained his quad," Hoover-Hankerson said. "He set a personal record again, for the second consecutive week in the 60-meter, and he was winning the 60-meter final until he pulled up with about 10 meters to go. He's been performing very well."

Hoover-Hankerson himself finished third in the 60-meter dash with time of 7.29 seconds.

Meanwhile, the Jumbo first-years have continued to contribute significant points and garner praise. First-year Josh Etkind broke a six-year school record in the 60-meter hurdles on Saturday, placing fourth with a time of 8.49. Etkind has already become one of the team's top performers this season in just under a month.

First-year Tom Doyle also came in fourth in his 600-meter race in 1:24.39, while fellow classmate Hiroto Watanabe placed fifth in the 1000-meter with a time of 2:31.84. Hoover-Hankerson said that as a senior, he is very satisfied with the team's first-year class.

"They're really strong across the board," he said. "They came in ready to work, they've been very disciplined and it shows in the results. There have been some injuries throughout the team and that includes some of the freshmen, but I think they've handled it really well."

Part of the team will race in the David Hemery Valentine Invitational at Boston University on Friday and Saturday, and the rest will take part in the MIT Invitational on Saturday. While Tufts will be on the road this weekend, coach Joel Williams and his team seek to continue their streak of early-season success.