Jones 10-time All American, Pagel & Sorensen finish 6th

(5/25/2007) Full Results

This past weekend ended the extremely successful campaign of the 2007 Jumbo track season. The trip to Wisconsin for the national championships proved to be one of the most successful in recent years. Fred Jones (Sr) continued his dominance tallying his 10th All America honor. Dave Sorensen (Jr) and Skip Pagel (So) both grabbed their first, while Jeremy Arak (Jr) and James Bradley (So) finished just outside of scoring in the High Jump.

In his final trip to nationals, Fred Jones finished exactly where he started, on the podium. Truly one of the most dominant jumpers in the nation for the past 4 years, Jones racked up his 10th All America honors this weekend. Jones qualified for and competed in every NCAA Championship of his 4 year carrier at Tufts. Over that time he continually reset his own school records in the indoor TJ & LJ as well as the outdoor TJ. He won the outdoor triple jump national championship in 2006 and was the indoor national runner-up in both jumps this past winter. Fred was able to pass the torch of national success to a number of athletes in his time at Tufts.

Skip Pagel finished 6th in the decathlon with 6656 points, earning All-America honors and shattering the 14-year-old school record by 147 points. The decathlon marked Pagel's 4th decathlon of the season and 3rd in just over 3 weeks. With fatigue a definite possibility, many looked on to see how Pagel would respond to the heightened competition. The first event would be useless as an indicator of Pagel's explosiveness as a powerful tailwind helped each decathlete start off the 10 event weekend with a solid PR. Skip was able to better his 11.67 qualifying 100m to an 11.23. The next two events would put Pagel in a bit of a hole as his performances would be just off his qualifying marks. The 4th event of the day would prove to be the turning point for the entire decathlon. His clear over 6-1.25 (1.86m) marked the first time the decathlete had ever broken the 6 foot barrier. Skip would follow it up with a 50.50 finishing off day with an 80 point PR.

Day two began just where day one left off. A lifetime PR of 16.27 helped minimize any potential loss that the Jumbo decathlete may have accrued in the event. Fielding would follow up the hurdles with two decathlon PRs and two lifetime PRs. Heading into the final event in 9th place, Pagel was able to surpass 3 competitors for 6th place with his 4:24.69 in the 1500m.

Dave Sorensen finished 6th in the steeplechase with a time of 9:03.39, earning All-America honors and bringing his total improvement for the season to 29 seconds. Dave PR'd in every steeplechase he ran this spring truly rising to the occasion of the national championships. The race went out quick, but Sorensen was able to stay calm, run his own race, and respond where needed. His kick over the last 400m would prove to be the difference as he would overtake a number of faltering runners.

The Jumbos also sent a pair of high jumpers to this weekend's championships as well. Arak finished in 9th place with a clearance of 2.00m while Bradley finished in 13th with a height of 1.95m. Both athletes responded very well against the elite competition and proved themselves to be the two best high jumpers to come out of New England this year.

When all was said and done, the 2007 season was one of the most successful in school history. A victory at the NESCAC Championships followed up by a 2nd place finish at the New England Championships was only eclipsed by the impressive performances at nationals. This year saw the bettering of five school records. Skip Pagel (decathlon) added 147 points to Pat DiNino's record from 1993. Fred Jones reset both his Indoor Long and Triple Jump marks at the NCAA meet in March. Nate Cleveland became the first Jumbo to crack the 1:22 barrier in the 600m while Arak and Bradley co-inhabit the HJ record at 2.02m.

The coaching staff would also like to take this moment to truly thank all the athletes, parents, alumni, and supporters who helped make this year the success that it was. Without your help, we truly could not have the fun or success that we do. You make it all worthwhile. Thank you very much.



Full Results