Fred Jones 2nd in LJ; Brigham 8th in 5k; DMR 8th

(3/11/2005) See more Photos     Full Results

This year's trip to the 2005 Division III NCAA Championship was by all accounts a successful one. Six Jumbos made the trip to the national meet at Illinois Wesleyan University and all six returned home as All-Americans. The athletes included seniors Nate Brigham and Aaron Kaye, juniors Matt Fortin, Pat Mahoney, and Trevor Williams, and sophomore Fred Jones. Brigham is now a two-time All-American, and Jones has earned the distinction three times in just his third season competing as a Jumbo. Even coach Connie Putnam returned with an award.

The championship weekend started off well for the Jumbos. A banquet to kick-off the weekend included regional awards for both athletes and coaches. Fred Jones was awarded Athlete of the Year for the New England region and Connie Putnam was awarded Men's Coach of the Year for New England. Both awards are given by the US Track Coaches Association. Coach Kristin Morwick of the women's team was also awarded Coach of the Year for the New England region.

The Jumbos rolled into Friday's competition with high hopes and a positive buzz following the awards earned on Thursday night. The Jumbos would field competitors in the long jump, 5000m, and DMR. Fred Jones started the meet off with a bang taking 2nd place in the long jump with a jump of 7.24m. Jones was sixth coming into the finals but quickly moved up with a 7.09m. However, he saved the best for last coming up big with a 7.24m leap, just 2 cm short of first place. This distance ties the Tufts school record that Jones set three weeks prior at the New England Div III Championship.

Next on the track for the Jumbos was Nate Brigham. Heeding his own advice, Nate stuck to the back conserving energy, but failed to cover the move of the lead pack. With questions of another repeat poor performance, Brigham fell back and nearly out of contention. But with a few laps to go, Brigham made the decision that this nationals trip would not end like the others. Starting to move up, he waited until 400 meters to go to unleash a fierce kick, which hurled him past two runners and into 8th place. Congrats to now two-time All-American Nate Brigham.

Capping off the night was the DMR. With the entire field seeded within 4 seconds of each other, this was sure to be a close race. The 1200m leg was about as close as comparisons come to the opening mile of cross country nationals. The pack was a bunched mess, with runners moving here and there looking for open space. Our Aaron Kaye spent most of the race in lanes 2 and 3 trying to get free. Trevor Williams took the baton in around 8th and quickly moved up to 4th passing every team he could. With a great leg over Mahoney took the baton and raced out to a 55 sec opening 400m. He paid for that opening with a slower second half, but still retained 4th place as he passed off to anchor, Matt Fortin. Fortin quickly took off after Mike Page of Amherst, but couldn't keep the pace as Oshkosh passed both of them. Falling back slightly, Fortin found fellow NE milers Combs and Bridgewater surrounding him. Knowing he was 8th and not wanting to give up a single spot, he went with 400m to go taking on the two All-Americans. Coming three abreast down to the final straight-away he couldnt quite get the job done and finished 8th to Keene St. and Bowdoin. However, that 8th place gave the Jumbos four more All-Americans on the night.

In Saturday's triple jump competition, Fred Jones was unable to equal the success of Friday's long jump. His second jump was good, but thrown out for fouling, and his third jump, on which he took-off well before the board, was four centimeters short of sending him to finals. Jones, a sophomore, placed sixth in the triple jump last year at the national meet and should return in the future to do some damage at nationals.

The Jumbos finished the meet content with their accomplishments, happy to have some new hardware, and committed to achieving even more at national meets in the future.


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