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Kyle Marks was first in the 5,000 meters for the Jumbos
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LEWISTON, ME- With four victories and 17 scoring performances, the Jumbo men's track and field team placed third of 22 teams at the Div. III New England Championship at Bates on Friday and Saturday.
MIT won the meet with 118.5 points. The host Bobcats placed second with 94 points, only two ahead of the third-place Jumbos. Williams and Bridgewater State rounded out the top-five with 59 and 52 points respectively.
The action got started on Friday afternoon with the first four events of the heptathlon. Senior Mike Blair (Wellesley, MA) won the high jump on Friday and the long jump on Saturday en-route to winning the event. His score of 4,900 improved on his own school record, set a meet and facility record, and currently ranks him third nationally.
Blair was backed by junior Andrew Osborne (Andover, MA) who used his runner-up finish in the long jump to propel him to sixth overall and a score of 3,985.
Senior Gbola Ajayi (Lagos, Nigeria) had success in the open long jump, as he leaped 22' 9 ¼" (6.94m) to emerge victorious.
The Jumbos had high finishers in other field events, as senior tri-captain Brad Nakanishi (Scarborough, ME) placed third in the pole vault with his clearance of 14' 11" (4.55m). Meanwhile, in the throws, sophomore Brian Williamson (Prairie Village, KS) launched the shot 48' 6 ¾" (14.80m) for fifth.
Also recording a top-five finish was senior tri-captain Curtis Yancy (St. Louis, MO), as he heaved the weight 56' 1" (17.09m) for fifth. He was backed by classmate Andre Figueroa (Bronx, NY), who placed eighth with a distance of 51' 2 ¼" (15.60m).
On the track, senior Kyle Marks (Carmel, IN) kicked past Bowdoin junior Sam Seekins in the final lap of the 5,000 to win the event in a time of 14:57.92.
The Jumbos notched two runner-up finishes in running events, as freshman Mitch Black (Brunswick, ME) placed second in the 600 with a time of 1:20.96. That time broke the previous school-record time of 1:21.85 set by Nate Cleveland in 2007.
Junior Graham Beutler (Weston, CT) also finished as a runner-up, as he clocked a time of 22.77 in the 200. Classmate Dan Lange Vagle (St. Paul, MN) supported Beutler with his sixth-place finish in a time of 22.91.
In the mid-distance events, Tufts notched two scoring performances. Junior Jamie Norton (Groton, MA) took fourth in the mile with his time of 4:15.69. In the 800, senior tri-captain Jeff Marvel (Naples, FL) clocked a time of 1:57.23 for seventh.
Also notching a seventh place finish was junior Ben Wallis (Dover, NH), as he clocked a time of 8:41.95 in the 3,000. Recording a nearly identical time of 8:41.98 and placing eighth was senior Matt Rand (Cape Elizabeth, ME).
The final event of the day was a good one for the Jumbos, as the 4x800 meter relay team of Marvel, Black, freshman Veer Bhalla (West Windsor, NJ), and sophomore Alex Schifter (Great Neck, NY) emerged victorious in a time of 7:53.27.
Although coach Ethan Barron's team was unable to improve on last season's third-place finish, these impressive performances will give the squad some momentum heading into final meets of the indoor season.
Next weekend, the Jumbos will head to Boston University to compete against competition from all divisions at the All-New England Championship.
Meet results
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