MIDDLETOWN, CT - For the second straight year, Michael Blair (Wellesley, MA) of the Tufts men's outdoor track & field team won the high jump at the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) Championship Meet hosted by Wesleyan University on Saturday.
Blair cleared 6'7" (2.01m) to win the event, a substantial improvement on his 6'3" (1.91m) winning mark of a year ago. He was just shy of the 2011 NCAA provisional qualifying height of 6'8" (2.03m). Junior Alex Orchowski (Cornwall, NY) was the NESCAC high jump runner-up at 6'5" (1.96m) as the Jumbos scored 18 points in the event.
The high jump win was the only conference title for Tufts. Depth helped the Jumbos scored 99.5 points at the meet overall, which placed them fourth out of 11. Williams College won the 2011 conference title with 188.5 points.
In the pole vault, sophomore Brad Nakanishi (Scarborough, ME) was the runner-up with success at 15'1" (4.60m). The Jumbos scored 14.5 points in the event, with senior co-captain Sam Read (Barkhamsted, CT) scored third with 14'7 1/4" (4.45m) clearance.
Sophomore Gbola Ajayi (Lagos, Nigeria) earned thirds in both the long and triple jumps. He went 21'11 3/4" (6.70m) in the long jump and 46'1 1/4" (14.05m) in the triple. Blair also scored three points in the triple jump with his 42'6" (12.95m) for sixth place.
Freshman Daniel Lange Vagle (St. Paul, MN) had an impressive third in the 100 meter dash, crossing the finish line in 11.17 seconds. Third were also recorded in the long distances, by freshman Liam Cassidy (Brunswick, ME) in the 5,000 meter run at 14:59.85 and by sophomore Matt Rand (Cape Elizabeth, ME) in the 10,000 meters in a 31:45.75 time.
Tufts continues the outdoor championship season at the New England Division III meet hosted by MIT next Thursday through Saturday (May 5-7).
NESCAC Championship results
#
