Men's track puts out impressive performances at BU, MIT

Tufts was back in action over the long weekend, though the focus wasn't so much on overall team performance as it was on individual improvement and qualifying ahead of this weekend's New England Div. III Indoor Championships. Members of the team participated in two different events on Saturday, neither of which had team scoring. While half of the team went into the city for for the David Hemery Valentine Invitational at Boston University, the rest of the Jumbos raced at MIT's Gordon Kelly Invitational.

At BU, the Jumbos' successful meet was led by a huge win from senior tri-captain Mitchell Black, who placed first out of 246 runners in the 800-meter run.Black's time of 1:49.32 was just 0.01 seconds ahead of Baylor's James Gilreath and 0.03 seconds ahead of UConn's Alvaro Chavez. Needless to say, Black held his own against some tough Div. I competition. For the Div. III rankings, Black will have about a second and a half added onto his time to account for BU's banked track. However, his time will still be the best 800 time in Div. III so far this season, just ahead of fellow Jumbo and senior Veer Bhalla's time from last week.

Another marquee finish at BU came from junior Luke O'Connor, who placed seventh out of 94 competitors in the 5000-meter event. O'Connor's time of 14:28.68 broke Tuft's school record, previously held by Jesse Faller (LA ''1'0')'', who set the mark in 2010. Senior Michael Curley also raced in the 5000-meters for the Jumbos and was not far behind O'Connor, placing 23rd with a time of 14:47.33.

"I actually didn't know that I had broken the school record until after my cool-down," O'Connor said. "It was my first indoor [5000-meter], which is 25 laps, so it was a little mind-numbing. I feel like it was a good race but, again, because it's such a long race and it was my first time doing it indoors, there's a lot I can still improve on mentally."

Tufts saw equally impressive results at the Gordon Kelly Invitational at MIT. The highlight of that meet was senior Bryson Hoover-Hankerson's effort in the 60-meter dash. The senior previously held the school record for the 60-meter with a time of 7.15, and on Saturday, he broke his own record by only a hundredth of a second with a time of 7.14 seconds. He placed second in that race, a mere 0.02 seconds behind Dartmouth's Victor Williams.

Just as impressive as Hoover-Hankerson's new record was junior Nick Usoff's win in the 600-meter race at MIT with a time of 1:26.80, giving the Jumbos a pair of first-place finishes across town.

First-year Josh Etkind, one of the team's many first-years to make a strong contribution in their debut seasons, also shined at MIT. Etkind topped his season-best score in the triple jump, recording 13.43 meters, good for third overall. He also ran in the 60-meter hurdles, finishing with a time of 8.62 seconds and placing fifth in his heat.

"It wasn't my best performance, but I was happy with the result," Etkind said of his efforts on Saturday. "I wasn't sure that it was a [personal record] until they measured because it was only better than my record by one centimeter. It wasn't a huge PR, but I was happy about it."

Tufts had fewer field athletes competing this weekend but those who were in action did not disappoint. Senior Michael Paloian put up the team's best mark in the weight throw this season at MIT, throwing 52 ft. 2 in. for third place. Classmate Ife Adebayo was almost as good, finishing fifth with a 51 ft. 7.25 in. throw.

The strong finishes over the weekend keep the Jumbos' momentum going as they head into their biggest challenge of the season so far in the form of the New England Div. III Championships this weekend. Tufts is shifting gears from the individual, qualifying-focused approach it has employed the last few weekends in its non-scoring meets back to the more holistic team approach this weekend.

The Jumbos return to a familiar track at MIT for the event with a squad consisting of some of the region's top athletes and with high expectations in the 800, where the team has serious depth in Black and Bhalla.

"It's what we've been training for all season," Etkind said. "We're going to try to show up as a team and do well. We've had some impressive individual performances so far, but now we're trying to train all together."

O'Connor also commented on the upcoming meet, noting the palpable excitement among the team.

"I think we're all gearing up for it," O'Connor added. "It's going to be one of the last races for a lot of our guys. We're all just really excited to go in and have some fast times."

The team will be at MIT on Friday and Saturday for the meet, and if the runners' sentiments are correct, they'll be more than ready for the challenge.