CAMBRIDGE - With three individual wins and nine top-five finishes, the Jumbo men's track and field team earned a runner-up finish in the Division III New England Championship at MIT on Friday and Saturday.
The host Engineers entered the most important team meet of the indoor season as the heavy favorite, and they proved to be the class of the field this weekend, tallying 104 points. The Jumbos scored 66 for second, one place better than last season's finish. Bates (51), Williams (50) and Southern Maine (44) rounded out the top five in the field of 26.
The action got started on Friday with the heptathlon. Two Jumbos were able to score for the team, as senior Andrew Osborne (Andover, MA) and sophomore Alex Karys (Newton, MA) placed fifth and sixth with 4,376 and 4,297 points respectively.
On Saturday, the Jumbos fared very well on the track. Sophomore Veer Bhalla (West Windsor, NJ) won the 600 in a time of 1:20.46, which broke the school record of 1:20.96 set by his classmate Mitch Black (Brunswick, ME) last season. Black notched a win of his own on Saturday, as his time of 1:53.99 in the 800 bested the field.
Tufts' other victory came from senior Graham Beutler (Weston, CT), as he clocked a time of 22.42 in the 200. In the 400, sophomore Francis Goins (Shaker Heights, OH) took fifth in a time of 50.34.
The longer events were also successful ones for the Jumbos, as senior Jamie Norton (Groton, MA) finished as the runner-up in the mile with a time of 4:13.15. Classmate Andrew Shapero (Laguna Beach, CA) also recorded a second-place finish, as he registered a time of 15:02.85 in the 5,000.
In the 4x800 meter relay, Norton and Bhalla teamed with sophomore Alex Apostolides (Athens, Greece) and senior Bobby McShane (Mansfield, MA) to place third in a time of 7:53.18.
Junior Brian Williamson (Prairie Village, KS) and sophomore Atticus Swett (Bow, NH) were productive in the circle once again for Tufts. Williamson took third in the shot put with his heave of 53' 5 ½" (16.29m), which ranks in the top-20 nationally. Swett was right behind in fourth with a mark of 48' 5 ½" (14.77m).
Coach Ethan Barron's team will look for even more impressive performances as the squad progresses through championship season. Next weekend, the Jumbos will head back to Boston University's fast banked track to compete in the All-New England Championship.
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