Jumbos Elevate for 2nd place at NESCACs

(4/24/2010) See more Photos     Full Results

In a word, "no regrets." Well, I guess that would be two words. But it sums up the performance of the Tufts track and field team this weekend as they hosted the 2010 NESCAC Championships. Debatably the 4th seed for this years championships, the Jumbos elevated their game in all areas to move into the 2nd spot.

It was truly a team effort with a slew of impressive and motivating performances throughout the day. Right off the bat, the Jumbos tipped their hand and gave away their game plan for the meet with the 10k and long jump. The two step plan that consisted of 1. 'Go big.' and 2. 'Do it with heart.' were demonstrated in full between the two events. Freshman Matt Rand, in the first 10k of his life, was the unfortunate recipient of a flat tire on the 2nd lap of the 25 lap race. After 2 miles of running with 1/2 a shoe, Rand kicked it off and battled through the final 3+ miles with 1 shoe. Rand's 6th place finish and time of 32:12 were impressive enough. When you add in the spikeless racing, it puts it on a whole other level.

In addition, the trio of Jumbo long jumpers all stepped up big to post PRs in the finals. Frank DeSalvo moved from 9th to 8th with his final jump of 21-0. Not to be out done, the pair of seniors Jonathan Pak (21-8.25) and Isaiah Paramore (22-4.5) each PRd by almost a foot at this weekends championships. Later in the day, all three Tufts triple jumpers would follow with their own outdoor PRs. Freshman Gbola Ajayi led the way with his jump of 43-11.75. Pak, Paramore, and Ajayi all posted Top 10 All Time performances for Tufts.

Ajayi made sure that his impact for the team went well beyond the TJ runway though. With a season best mark, he joined Marc Soskin and Vinnie Lee in the finals of the 100m. Tufts dominated in the finals grabbing the 2nd, 3rd, and 8th spots. The 100m runners must have taken a page out of the hurdlers book as earlier in the day, the duo of Jared Engelking and Trevor Donadt outpaced the field in the 110H with their finishes of 14.64 and 14.98 respectively. They were the only two hurdlers under the 15.0 mark.

Soskin, Lee, and Ajayi were joined by freshman Lomie Cunningham in the 4x100m relay. What is insanely impressive, and possibly just insane, Cunningham aggravated his hamstring at the 3rd exchange, but still ran the race with only one good leg. He was able to hold off the field and bring home the title for the team. It was a tough hit to the Jumbo momentum to see the loss of their top seeded 400 and 200 runner as Cunningham's day ended early.

But Cunningham's teammates were ready to step up and cover his spots. In the 400m, sophomore Ben Crastnopol and senior Andrew Longley each notched season best marks. And later in the day, Lee and Soskin would do the same in the 200. Lee would grab the 2nd spot in the event from the unseeded section with his 22.58.

Some of the most impressive performances of the day came from the freshman class of 2013. Jeff Marvel closed amazingly from 450m out in the unseeded section to clock in at 1:54.80. His mark would only be bested by less than 0.20 seconds from the seeded section. His classmates Mike Blair and Brad Nakanishi each elevated their game to grab 1st place in their events, literally. Blair took the top spot in the HJ with his clearance of 6-3.25, narrowly missing his jumps at 6-5. Nakanishi was the lone vaulter over the 15-2.75 bar as he PRd by almost 12 inches at this weekends championships.

It didn't stop there. In the throws, freshman Curtis Yancy was the Jumbos top shot putter and discus thrower. Not seeded to make the finals, Yancy took 5th in the SP and then came back to add another 5th place heave in the discus throw. Wanting his own time in the sun, junior Alex Gresham flung his own PR in the hammer throw to move up to the 3rd spot. His mark of 52.46m was a mere 4cm off of a national qualifying mark.

Building off Greshams near national mark, Donadt notched in his 2nd PR of the day, this time it would also be a 1st place finish and a national qualifier. Donadts time of 53.97 in the 400H was the senior's first time sub 54 seconds and almost a full 1/2 second ahead of the field.

With the final individual event of the day, the tandem of senior Jesse Faller and freshman Kyle Marks worked themselves in with the lead pack early on. In the final mile, Faller and an Amherst runner would separate from the field with Faller finishing 2nd in a time of 14:53.91. Marks would make his own surge in the final mile moving past a number of runners working up to Williams All-American Edgar Kosgey. In the end Kosgey would have a little more than Marks, but the freshman's time of 15:02.61 was good enough for 4th and spot on the Tufts All Time Top 10 list.

After two of the gutsiest relays in recent memory, the Jumbo squad ended up with a hard fought 2nd place finish. It was a brilliantly assembled track meet as a whole. With high energy throughout, the momentum never seemed to falter. Just when it seemed that there might be a crack in the armor, another Jumbo would step up to shield the blow. There was no way to truly cover all the impressive, gritty, and monumental performances from this weekends championships. Just know that if you are a fan of Tufts track and field and you were not able to attend this weekends championships, without a doubt, this team made you proud to be a Jumbo.


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