BOSTON - The Tufts men's track & field team placed 15th in a field of teams from all divisions at the Open New England Championship at Boston University on Friday and Saturday.
With only a handful of team members competing, the Open New England Championship served as an opportunity for Tufts athletes to post personal bests and qualify for championship meets.
The Jumbos certainly took advantage of that opportunity. Junior Jeff Marvel (Naples, FL) set the tone for the weekend when he broke his own school record in the 800 with a time of 1:51.43 on Friday afternoon. That time currently ranks fifth nationally and will almost certainly be among the top 13 by season's end, garnering Marvel a return trip to the NCAA Championship. His time also qualified him for the finals on Saturday afternoon, where he clocked another impressive time of 1:51.70 to finish fifth.
Not to be outdone, senior co-captain Connor Rose (Irvine, CA) recorded a national qualifying performance of his own on Saturday afternoon. He placed ninth in the mile with a time of 4:08.65. That mark is the second-best in school history and currently ranks seventh nationally.
The Jumbos kept the momentum going in the field events. Junior Gbola Ajayi (Lagos, Nigeria) placed sixth in the triple jump with a leap of 47'5 3/4" (14.47m). He now sits in 11th in the national ranks and will look to solidify his position next week at the ECAC Championship.
Junior pole vaulter Brad Nakanishi (Scarborough, ME) was unable to improve his national qualifying position, but turned in a stellar performance nonetheless. He finished tied for fifth with his clearance of 15'7" (4.75m) and had good attempts at a school-record height of 16' 1".
Tufts athletes were very productive in the short-running events as well. The 4x400 meter relay team composed of senior Ben Crastnopol (Doylestown, PA), junior Vinnie Lee (Walpole, MA), sophomore Graham Beutler (Weston, CT) and freshman Francis Goins (Shaker Heights, OH) clocked a school-record time of 3:17.36, which currently ties for tenth nationally.
Beutler recorded stellar performances in the open 400 and 200 as well. He placed 20th in both events, recording a 49.74 in the 400 and a 22.42 in the 200, which is only 0.14 seconds off the school record.
The Jumbos recorded two other notable performances on the track. Senior Jeff Prescott (Wilton, CT) placed sixth in the 1,000 with his personal-best time of 2:30.68. Junior Tyler Andrews (Concord, MA) ran personal-record time in the 5,000, clocking a 14:53.76 to place 13th.
These impressive performances will give the Jumbos solid momentum heading into the final two championship meets of the indoor season.
Next weekend, Coach Ethan Barron's team will travel to New York City to compete in the ECAC Championship, which serves as the final opportunity to improve marks before the NCAA Championship on March 9-10.
Championship results
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Written by Matt Rand
