Windy Day of Strong Performances at Stonehill

(4/5/2009) See more Photos     Full Results

The Jumbos took on a list of competition from all divisions this weekend at Stonehill’s 2nd Annual Skyhawk Invitational. Teams from across Massachusetts were forced to bundle up as spotty rain showers, cold temperatures, and windy conditions affected performances across the board.

Early in the day, sophomore Jerzy Eisenberg-Guyot paced himself through 10,000 meters in 33:52. He was followed by junior Ryan Lena’s debut steeple of the season in 10:00.36, finishing second overall. Covering the remaining distance event, junior quad-captain Nick Welch negative split his way through the 5k in a relaxed 15:27.72 for another second-place finish. It was a difficult day for all in uniform, especially the distance events. For athletes to post qualifying performances under such conditions is a testament to their full potential this season.

As the winds started to turn loose, the sprint squad hit the track early in Tufts’ first 4x100m relay of the season. Hit by a heavy headwind, freshman Ben Crastnopol, sophomore James Wheeler, and seniors Phil Rotella and Colin Fitzgerald finished third overall in a time of 44.31. Both Rotella and Fitzgerald joined juniors Marc Soskin and Jonathan Pak in the open 100m. Rotella took third in 11.21, Fitzgerald fifth in 11.47.

Rotella, Fitzgerald, and Crastnopol finished off their triple by competing in the 200m where Rotella and Fitzgerald both finished in the top seven in 23.11 and 23.41, respectively. Dan Stone, Montez Paschal, Matt McGrath, and Edward Wronsky followed with solid races on a windy turn. Possibly the most impressive race for the Jumbos was the 110 hurdles where Tufts took first (Jared Engelking), seventh (Skip Pagel), and eighth (James Wheeler).

In the middle distances, sophomore Jeff Ragazzini ran to a strong PR in the 1500 in 4:05.37. He doubled back with a 2:03 leg of the 4x800m relay. Coming off a very successful indoor season, Ragazzini looks to keep improving in a whole range of events. Following his first All-American performance, junior Billy Hale continued his winning ways with a first-place finish in the 800m in 1:59.32. This feat was even more impressive considering the came through 400m in 60 seconds. Finally, senior James Bradley took sixth in the 400m after his indoor All-American high jump performance.

In the field events, Isaiah Paramore took second in the high jump (6’2”) and fifth in the long jump (20’8”). Sophomore Sam Read and freshman Matt Williams added two more seconds in the pole vault (13’11.25”) and hammer throw (148’), respectively. Williams’ throw was a big PR for this up-and-coming freshman. He also had an outdoor PR in the shot put, taking fifth overall. Fellow freshman Luke Lamothe continued his strong introduction to the Jumbos squad with a fourth place finish in the javelin.

Next week the Jumbos will continue to race against DI and DII competition at Northeastern's Solomon Invite. Last season, it was a breakout meet for many Jumbos with warm temperatures and solid competition in the sprints. We'll have fingers crossed that Mother Nature smiles on us again this year.


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