HANOVER, NH - Five members of the Tufts men's track and field team placed in the top six of their respective events at the Dartmouth Relays on Sunday.
With the entire distance squad out of action, the sprinters and field athletes carried the load. Even so, the Jumbos were able to place fourth out of eight teams from all divisions.
Host Dartmouth won the meet with 67 points. Close behind was Division II UMass Lowell with 60 points. Sherbrooke accumulated 43.5 points to take third, followed by the Jumbos in fourth with 23 points. Boston College rounded out the top five with 16 points.
Junior Brad Nakanishi (Scarborough, ME) led the way for the Jumbos with his victory in the pole vault. He cleared 15'5 3/4" (4.72m) and had good attempts at a national qualifying height of 16 feet. Also faring well in the vault was sophomore Trevor Rothaus (Placentia, CA), who cleared the bar at 14'6" (4.42m), good enough for a new PR and seventh place in the event.
In the long jump, junior Gbola Ajayi (Lagos, Nigeria) notched a runner-up performance with his leap of 21'11 3/4" (6.70m). First-year Brian Williamson also recorded a stellar performance. He placed fifth in the shot put with his toss 48'1 1/4" (14.66m).
Also notching a top-five finish was senior co-captain Adam Aronson (Norwood, MA), who tossed the weight 46'9" (14.25m). Junior Curtis Yancy (St. Louis, MO) finished right behind Aronson in the weight throw with his toss of 46'7 1/2" (14.21m).
These impressive performances led the short-handed Jumbos to a solid fourth-place showing. The Tufts athletes also were able shake off the rust from the one-month hiatus from competition.
Coach Ethan Barron's team will compete as a full squad on Saturday in the Tufts Invitational at the Gantcher Center.
Results
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