DMR Goes Auto in New School Record 9:56.97

(3/6/2010) Full Results

Two relays suited up this Saturday for the Jumbos at the IC4A Championships hosted by Boston University. As the anchor legs kicked across the finish lines, the eight Tufts runners clocked in two of the most impressive relays in school history. It was an incredibly exciting weekend for the Tufts DMR squad that had their eyes set on qualifying for next weekend's National Championships.

Their bid for the Championships started across the state on Friday evening as the team of Sam Haney, Ben Crastnopol, Billy Hale, and Jesse Faller geared up for a hotly contested ECAC Championship race. The team quickly saw their hopes of a national qualifier tumble away as the baton was knocked from the lead off leg's hand right from the gun.

Regrettably, no official saw Tufts baton be knocked away so there was no recall. In grand Tufts fashion, Sam Haney stepped up and ran one of the most impressive races of his life. To sum it up, Haney gave the entire field a 50m heads start and was still able to surge back into the pack and hand off to Crastnopol in contact with the race. Crastnopol got out to a great start, but was pulled from the race as the coaching staff decided their chances to post a qualifier would come on Saturday.

With Haney working so hard on Friday's 1200m leg, the Jumbos elected to tap senior 1000m runner Matt Tirrell to take Saturday's opening leg. Tirrell had just logged a 2:29 at the Open NE Championships the weekend before so he was more than prepared for the race. He got the Jumbos out in grand fashion with a 3:04.9 leg handing off to Crastnopol in last place, but in contact. From there, Crastnopol's 49.7 and Hale's 1:54.3 handed off to Faller in the mix with a number of talented milers.

Over the course of the next 1600m, Faller consistently picked off the anchor legs from William & Mary, Bucknell, and Binghamton. Eventually, Faller would simply run out of track before catching the top teams from UPenn and George Mason; however his 4:07.9 anchor leg punched the team home in a time of 9:56.97 which would be good enough for a school record and an automatic qualifier for the National Championships.

Building off their momentum was the new look Tufts 4x800m relay. The trio of freshmen Haney, Jeff Marvel, and Dan Kirschner were joined by senior Jason Hanrahan to make a bid for the newly minted 7:42 school record. After four impressive legs, the team finished the day with a 7:45.10. Although it was not a school record, it was the 2nd fastest time in school history.

If there was ever a chance for this Jumbo squad to show off their talent and depth in the middle distance events, this was it. Barring last weeks 7:42 time, these athletes would have set both the 4x800m relay and DMR school records with 8 separate individuals. Performances like that speak volumes.


Full Results