LEWISTON, ME - The Tufts men's track & field team accumulated 146.25 points to place second of 11 teams at the NESCAC Championship at Bates on Saturday.
Only the host Bobcats edged the Jumbos with 156.25 points. Middlebury placed third with 124, while Williams and Bowdoin rounded out the top five with 111.75 and 104 points, respectively.
Cold and windy conditions served as an additional obstacle for all competitors. Nonetheless, several Tufts athletes came away with impressive performances.
Tufts notched three event victories en route to the runner-up finish. Junior Jeff Marvel (Naples, FL) took the victory in the 1500. He recorded a time of 4:00.36, edging Bowdoin sophomore Coby Horowitz at the line by 0.02 seconds.
Junior Brad Nakanishi (Scarborough, ME) won the pole vault, contested indoors due to high winds, with his clearance of 15'3" (4.60m). He was backed by sophomore Trevor Rothaus (Placentia, CA) who cleared 14'3 1/4" (4.35m) to place fourth. The conference title is the second for Nakanishi, who also won NESCAC's in 2010.
Junior Gbola Ajayi (Lagos, Nigeria) scored 16 points for Tufts. He won the long jump with his leap of 23'4 3/4" (7.13m) and placed third in the triple jump with his mark of 46'5 1/2" (14.16m). In the long jump, he was supported by classmate Mike Blair (Wellesley, MA) who jumped 21'7 1/4" (6.58m) to place third. Blair also recorded a third-place finish in the high jump with his clearance of 6'2 3/4" (1.90m).
As always, the Jumbos were productive in the throwing events. Senior co-captain Adam Aronson (Norwood, MA) was the runner-up in the hammer throw with his heave of 167'0" (50.90m). He was backed by junior Curtis Yancy (St. Louis, MO) who took fourth with his throw of 161'11" (49.36m). In the shot put, freshman Brian Williamson (Prairie Village, KS) placed third with a mark of 49'3" (15.01m).
Back on the track, freshman Ptah Osayande (Wallingford, PA) was the runner-up in the 400 hurdles with his time of 55.54. Junior Dan Lange-Vagle (St. Paul, MN) scored 12 points for the Jumbos with his third place finishes in the 100 and 200 meter dashes. He recorded times of 10.94 and 22.33 respectively.
In the 400, senior Ben Crastnopol (Doylestown, PA) and sophomore Graham Buetler (Weston, CT) finished in fourth and fifth with times of 52.26 and 52.37 respectively. Meanwhile, junior Tyler Andrews (Concord, MA) recorded a time of 31:41.25 to place fourth in the 10,000.
Coach Ethan Barron's team improved two places from last year's fourth-place showing at the conference meet. Next weekend, they will look to carry the momentum into the Division III New England Championship at MIT.
NESCAC Championship results
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