Men’s track and field prepares to replace record-breaking graduates

Tufts men’s track and field team is gearing up for its indoor season as the cross country season has come to a close. The Jumbos are coming off a 16th place finish at last spring's NCAA Div. III Outdoor Track Championships in Geneva, Ohio. Returning junior hurdler and jumper Josh Etkind had the best season of his career last year, ending the season with an eighth-place finish in the men’s 110-meter hurdles with a time of 14.37. The finish earned him All-American honors as he, fellow All-American Tim Nichols (LA'17) and senior high jumper Stefan Duvivier powered the team to its second consecutive top-20 overall finish.

Etkind, Duvivier and others will hope to build on that success again this year, but will have their work cut out for them trying to fill the cleats of the graduated Nichols as well as graduated distance runner Luke O’Connor (LA '17).

Senior quad-captain hurdler Andrew DiMaiti explained the impact of losing Nichols and O'Connor.

"It was a pretty heavy loss having Tim and Luke graduate … they were very consistent points in the distance events last year," DiMaiti said. "We will definitely need some younger guys to step up and fill in those roles. Just the presence of two experienced runners was great to have on the team and they were all very successful at the highest levels of competition.”

Nichols and O’Connor both had illustrious careers as year-round Tufts runners competing in cross country and track all four years. O’Connor ran the best 3,000-meter steeplechase time in the nation last season at the NESCAC Track and Field Championships with a time of 8:58.46. No other runner in Div. III broke the nine-minute mark during the season. Unfortunately, O’Connor did not have his best race at nationals, failing to qualify for the NCAA final while running a time of 9:23.70 in the 3,000-meter steeplechase.

Nichols capped his senior season perfectly last spring, starting at the NCAA Div. III Indoor National Championships, where he captured the 5,000-meter national title with a time of 14:25.08. Nichols went into the race seeded first and did not disappoint, also earning the fourth All-American honors of his career in that race. Junior mid-distance runner Hiroto Watanabe also earned All-American honors at that meet, with an eighth-place finish in the 800-meter race.

Nichols went on to break the Tufts record for the 10,000-meter race at the Princeton Sam Howell Invitational later that season, running at time of 29:37.09. His run was the first time any Tufts runner had broken 30 minutes in the race. He finished his season on a strong note as well, placing fifth at the NCAA Div. III Outdoor Championships in the 5,000-meter race with a time of 14:29.19.

After losing these two star runners, the Jumbos will likely field a more well-rounded team this year with contributions more spread out among different team members. Yet there are some returners who could be primed for a breakout season this year to fill the shoes of Nichols and O’Connor.

Sophomore sprinter and jumper Ranjit Thomas praised the strong junior class that the Jumbos have returning to the track.

“A lot of the current junior class is super super talented," Thomas said. "I think almost every single junior sprinter is on the top 10 record board for some event or another. All of last year’s sophomores have gotten better [as well]."

Junior distance runner Christian Swenson also competed at the NCAA Championships last spring, posting a time of 4:05.28 in the men’s 1,500-meter final and finishing 14th. Swenson burst onto the national scene late in the season last year, qualifying by running a Tufts program record time of 3:49.25 at the Last Chance MIT national qualifier on May 18. Additionally, Swenson enters the 2017–18 campaign coming off a strong fall cross country season. The Evanston, Ill. native finished 64th at the New England Regional Championship, ranking as the fifth-fastest runner for the Jumbos. After his recent successes, Swenson is a good candidate to break out even further this year.

Duvivier will also be looking for another strong season after placing third last season in the high jump at the national championship, earning All-American honors. He jumped 6’ 10 ¾”, just a couple inches behind the first place national champion.

Nineteen first-year Jumbos have joined the roster this season. At least five of these rookies are coming in as jumpers, potentially bolstering the field team.

DiMaiti expressed confidence in the current team's ability to step up this season.

“We are stronger in the sprints and field events than we have ever been in my time here because we have some sophomores sprinters who really broke out last year and I think now as juniors will play a huge role on the team," DiMaiti said. "Then with the middle distance events, there are also some younger guys who broke out... I think this will be the best team that I’ve been on in my four years here. I’m talking about nationals.”

The team will be competing in an intersquad meet on Friday, which will give some of the first years their first taste of competition in college, before actual competition begins in January.