Jumbos excel in early-season meets on both coasts

The No. 18 Tufts men’s track and field team competed over spring break at the Ross and Sharon Irwin Collegiate Scoring Meet at Point Loma Nazarene University in San Diego, Calif. and at the Point Loma Nazarene University (PLNU) Collegiate Invitational, held at the same venue. Upon returning from the West Coast, the Jumbos also competed in the SnowFlake Classic, held at Tufts' Ellis Oval on Saturday. The team placed highly in all three events to begin the season with a strong run of form.

The Jumbos are coming off a great indoor track season and are looking to continue their successes.

"We had one of the best team finishes in school history, picked up an NCAA champion, plus of the seven guys that competed, six earned All American. We placed inside the top 15 and we were the highest-placing men’s team from New England," coach Joel Williams said.

It will be a long season, but if their form in the early meets is any indication, the Jumbos have a strong season ahead of them.

On March 17, Tufts took part in the Ross and Sharon Irwin Collegiate Scoring Meet.Senior co-captain Drew DiMaiti continued his recent streak of strong results that began during the indoor track season. The Medford, Mass. native placed third and broke his personal outdoor record in the 400 meters with a mark of 48.46 seconds, and placed first in the 400-meter hurdles, with a time of 53.89 seconds. DiMaiti's 400-meter time is currently ranked fifth in the Div. III national rankings.

The Jumbos also had a good showing in the 5,000 meters, with junior Dylan Jones winning the event in a time of 15:17.10. Tufts filled the scoresheet in the long-distance race, taking third through seventh places.

Collectively, Tufts finished fourth out of 12 teams at the event with a team score of 104, only losing out to Navy, Cal State San Marcos and Azusa Pacific University.

The Jumbos went on to compete in the PLNU Invitational a week later. DiMaiti dominated his events once again, placing first in the 400-meter hurdles.He ran the event in 52.95 seconds, a time that currently sits third nationally. Junior Josh Etkind also performed well in a hurdles event, placing second in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 14.86 seconds, which is currently ranked 13th nationally.

Sophomore Matt D’Anieri and junior Christian Swenson both found success in the 800 meters.D’Anieri finished third in the race with a time of 1:55.69.Swenson finished immediately after, coming in fourth place at the 1:55.92 mark. Both times currently rank in the top 32 in the nation.Tufts' top 4x400-meter relay team — composed of first-year Vincent Avallone, DiMaiti, senior Patrick Milne and sophomore Billy Witrock — finished third with a time of 3:22.93.

The Jumbos were strong in the field events at the PLNU Invitational, as well. Junior Henry Hintermeister took first place in the javelin throw with a heave of 54.40 meters. Overall, Tufts finished in second with 151 team points, behind only NESCAC rival Middlebury, who earned 155 points.

Building on their successes over spring break, the Jumbos continued their momentum by taking first place as hosts of the annual SnowFlake Classic.DiMaiti again won the 400-meter hurdles, posting a time of 54.00 seconds — two seconds faster than the runner-up, Wesleyan first-year Kevin DeLoughry.DiMaiti was also a part of Tufts' top 4x400-meter relay team — which also consisted of Witrock, junior Thomas Doyle and sophomore Jackson Mihm — that took first place at the event with a time of 3:22.00.The quartet’s time is currently 22nd in the nation.

"I’m very excited to have gotten off to such a fast start, especially in the hurdles," DiMaiti said. "I wasn’t able to get in much work in practicing that event during indoor because I was so focused on the indoor 400 race, so it was nice to see a lot of last year’s training carrying over. I'm hoping that a lot of the intense training and workouts from this indoor season carry me through the outdoor season."

The 4x100-meter relay also performed well at the SnowFlake Classic. The foursome of junior Brandon Levenstein, junior Anthony Kardonsky, junior Tommy Miller and first-year OJ Armstrong finished second with a time of 42.71 seconds that ranks 32nd nationally.

In the field events, senior Stefan Duvivier flashed the talent that won him an indoor national title in March. In his first outdoor high jump event of the season, Duvivier cleared 1.98 meters (6' 6"), finishing third in the event and tying for 17th nationally. Junior James Gregoire posted a 6.60-meter mark (21' 8") in the long jump to finish second in the event.Sophomore Kevin Quisumbing had perhaps the most impressive field performance of the Jumbos, as he won the shot put with a throw of 15.23 meters (49' 11 3/4") to beat his own personal outdoor record.His mark is currently 16th nationally.

The Jumbos outclassed the competition, scoring a total of 153 team points.WPI, the runners-up, were far behind, earning only 119 points.Tufts also defeated a quartet of NESCAC opponents: Wesleyan (56 points), Amherst (31), Trinity (24) and Conn. College (21).

The Jumbos have hit the ground running in their early-season meets, which they hope is a good indicator of how their season will ultimately play out.

"Our biggest goal is to win the NESCAC championship," DiMaiti said. "Coming off our victory in the indoor Div. III New Englands, I know we have the talent and heart necessary to win this meet. Looking past that, I know we also expect to make a good showing at Nationals."

The team will look to continue its success in the Sam Howell Invite at Princeton on Friday before competing in the MIT/Bates/RPI Tri Meet at MIT on Saturday.