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Gbola Ajayi was very productive in the jumps for the Jumbos
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SPRINGFIELD - With two victories and seven top-four finishes, the Tufts men's track & field team earned third place of 24 teams at the New England Championship on Saturday at Springfield College.
Bates secured the team title with 103 points. MIT took the runner-up spot with 95 points followed by the Jumbos with 89. Williams and Bowdoin rounded out the top five with 76 and 71.5 points respectively.
Junior Brad Nakanishi (Scarborough, ME) won the pole vault after a runner-up finish last year. He cleared 15'11" (4.85m) which currently ranks ninth nationally.
In the 5,000, the Jumbos scored 14 points. Junior Matt Rand (Cape Elizabeth, ME) claimed the individual title with a time of 14:55.43. Classmates Kyle Marks (Carmel, IN) and Tyler Andrews (Concord, MA) finished in sixth and eighth with times of 15:08.23 and 15:10.46 respectively.
Junior Gbola Ajayi (Lagos, Nigeria) scored 16 points by himself for Tufts. He placed second in the long jump with a leap of 22'5 1/4" (6.84m) and second in the triple jump with a mark of 46'5 1/4" (14.15m).
Also recording a runner-up finish was sophomore Graham Beutler (Weston, CT). His time of 22.57 seconds in the 200 was good enough for second.
The Jumbos recorded two third-place finishes. Sophomore Bobby McShane (Mansfield, MA) ran a time of 2:30.55 in the 1,000 for third, while freshman Brian Williamson's toss of 50'10 3/4" (15.51m) was good enough for third in the shot put.
Junior Jeff Marvel (Naples, FL) and sophomore Andrew Osborne (Andover, MA) notched fourth place showings. Marvel took fourth in the 800 with a time of 1:56.56, while Osborne's 4,166 points secured him fourth in the heptathlon.
The Jumbos improved three places from last year's sixth-place finish and will look to keep the momentum rolling as championship season continues.
Next weekend, Coach Ethan Barron's team will head to Boston University to compete in the Open New England Champioship.
Championship results
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Written by Matt Rand
