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Mike Blair's two wins helped propel Tufts to the title
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SOMERVILLE – Senior Mike Blair (Wellesley, MA) and junior Graham Beutler (Weston, CT) both won two individual conference titles as the Tufts men's outdoor track & field team captured the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) Championship at home on Ellis Oval /Dussault Track Saturday.
Head coach Ethan Barron's Jumbos accumulated 213 points to out-distance defending champion and runner-up Bates (166) by 47. Tufts, which shared the 2007 conference crown with Williams, won its first solo championship since 1991. Middlebury was third today with a 140 score.
In the 2012 NESCAC Championship at Bates, the Bobcats edged Tufts by only 10 points. Ideal conditions and several stellar performances across all event groups allowed the Jumbos to exact revenge on their rivals from Maine on Saturday.
Tufts dominated the jumps as Blair won the high jump with 6'4" (1.93m) clearance and the long jump with 22'5 1/4" (6.84m) distance. The high jump victory is his third at the conference meet, including 2011 and 2010. Tufts' Gbola Ajayi (Lagos, Nigeria) was today's triple jump winner with a best effort of 47'5 3/4" (14.47m). Blair also notched a fourth-place finish in the triple jump with a leap of (43'7 ¾" / 13.30m).
In the horizontal jumps, the Jumbos tallied 43 points overall. In the long jump, Ajayi (22'3 ½" / 6.79m) and junior Andrew Osborne (Andover, MA) at 21'11" / 6.68m) backed Blair with second and fourth place finishes respectively. In the triple jump, freshman Mitch Black (Brunswick, ME) took second behind Ajayi with his distance of 43'11 ¼" (13.39m).
Beutler crossed the finish line first in the 200 meters (21.80) and 400 meters (48.30) for the Jumbos. His 400 time currently ranks in the top 15 nationally, but may have to be improved upon for him to qualify for NCAA's. He had support in the 200, as junior Dan Lange Vagle (St. Paul, MN) and senior Vinnie Lee (Walpole, MA) placed third and fourth with times of 22.17 and 22.22 respectively. Lange Vagle and Lee were also able to clock times of 11.07 and 11.13 in the 100 to place second and third respectively.
Beutler also ran the lead-leg for the conference champion 4x400 relay. He was joined by Alex Kasimer, Lee, and Black for a 3:18.24 winning time. In a rare feat, Black was also able to record a runner-up finish in the 800 with his time of 1:52.23, which ranks in the top 10 nationally.
In the distance events, senior Matt Rand (Cape Elizabeth, ME) tallied eight points with a fourth-place finish in the 10,000 (31:29.59) and a sixth-place effort in the 5,000 (14:53.60). Classmate Kyle Marks (Carmel, IN) earned six third-place points in the 5,000 with his time of 14:39.59, while senior Tyler Andrews (Concord, MA) also earned six points with his fifth-place showing in the 10,000 (31:44.86) and seventh=place finish in the 5,000 (14:54.12).
Also scoring six points was junior Ben Wallis (Dover, NH), as he took third in the
steeplechase with a time of 9:12.45, which ranks in the top 10 nationally.
In the throws circle, the Jumbos were very productive. Senior tri-captain Curtis Yancy (St. Louis, MO) and sophomore Brian Williamson (Prairie Village, KS) placed third and fourth in the shot put with throws of 50'1 ¾" (15.28m) and 50'0" (15.24m) respectively. Yancy also placed third in the discus with his heave of 142'3" (43.36m) and third in the hammer with a mark of 163'8" (49.88m). Williamson bettered Yancy with his distance of 166'0" (50.60m), which was good enough for second.
In the javelin, junior Matt Johnson (Hanover, MA) recorded a mark of 175'7" (53.52m) to place third.
Thrower David Pless from Bates won three events overall. He obliterated his own NESCAC shot put record with his winning heave of 60'0 1/2" (18.30m). He also won the discus throw in 164'9" (50.22m) and the hammer throw with a 190'8" (58.11) launch. While winning his third straight NESCAC shot put title and second straight in the hammer and discus today, Pless now has seven conference titles overall.
Middlebury's Jack Davies set the meet's only other record with his 8:58.01 to win the 3,000 meter steeplechase. He finished his career at the NESCAC meet by winning the event all four years.
Among other winners, Kevin Chu from Middlebury successful defended the 110 hurdles title with a 14.71 victory. Williams' Jabulani Blyden won the 400 hurdles (54.09) to add to his 2011 NESCAC titles in the 110 and 400 hurdles.
The relays saw two teams defend their championships as Middlebury took its second straight 4x100 relay with a 42.31 finish and the distance medley relay was Bowdoin's for the second straight spring after a 10:10.31 run.
Stephen Simalchik from Williams added his third NESCAC javelin victory with a 190'0" (57.92) throw. He was the 2011 and 2010 champ. Bates topped the distance competition with Tully Hannan winning in the 5,000 meter run (14:36.32) and Ken Whitney taking the 10,000 meter run in 31:06.32.
Rounding out the 21 event winners, Brian Holtzman from Middlebury was the fastest 100 meters sprinter (10.92). Mark McCauley from Bates was first in the 800 meter run (1:52.15). Coby Horowitz from Bowdoin crossed the finish line first in the 1,500 meters (3:53.46). Wlajimir Alexis from Hamilton won the pole vault at 14'7 1/4" (4.45m).
Coach Ethan Barron's team will use the conference title as a springboard for the rest of the championship season, which continues next weekend with the DIII New England Championship at Colby.
NESCAC Championship Meet results
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