FEBRUARY 22-23, 2002
For the first time in over a decade, the MIT Men's Track and Field team was seeded to place among the top 5 teams in the all division New England Championship held at Boston University this weekend. However, an injury that caused the top seeded Distance Medley Relay to scratch, cost MIT a probable 10 points, which would have placed them in 4th.
Rick Rajter, stiff back and all, braved another pentathlon to finish 4th and put MIT on the scoreboard. Unable to sprint because of his back, Rajter was unable to produce a good hurdle performance, running 8.26 to start the event. Of course, this also affected his long jump, which was only 19-8 1/4. Rajter came through in the shot put, throwing 37-5 to move up in the field. High jumping 6-2 3/4 won that portion of the event and moved Rajter into 2nd place by 30 points. Despite a strong and gutsy 2:51 1000, Rajter fell back two places to 4th with 3362 points, a season best.
Later in the first day, Chris Khan showed he is getting ready for nationals as he placed 5th in the Weight Throw with a 55-4 1/4 effort. Khan was 4th going into the finals but was unable to move up his performance despite his best efforts.
Craig Mielcarz placed 6th in the High Jump with a 6-7 leap, good for Mielcarz at BU. A venue that has always been difficult for Mielcarz, he seemed to be showing his legs are ready for a great leap as he had plenty of hip height on his last attempt at 6-9. Mielcarz hopes to reach the automatic qualifying height of 6-9 3/4 at Tufts University next week in the ECAC Division III Championship.
Sean Nolan was seeded first in the 5000 and the only question was had he recovered enough from his illness to represent himself well. Working his way up to the front, Nolan came through the first mile in 4:42 along with teammates Dan Feldman and Ben Schmeckpeper. After two 72 second quarters, the pace picked up to 70 for three quarters to come through the second mile in 9:24 while Feldman fell back to 9:27 and Schmeckpeper 9:36. Nolan tried to break away but did not quite have the confidence to stick to the plan, slowing and allowing the pack to catch back up. Quarters of 72, 74 and 73 showed no one wanted it badly enough to take the risk. With 600 to go Nolan turned in a quarter of 68 and a final 200 of 32 to put the race away with a 14:43.04. Feldman, also coming back from an illness, closed with a 32 to finish 4th in 14:48.20. Schmeckpeper faded a bit but came back with 600 to go to finish in 15:08.92.
In the Mile Run Sean Montgomery ran 4:11 on back to back days. In his mile trial, Montgomery casually ran behind the lead runners and opened up with a 400 to go to 4:11.04. In the final, Montgomery went for the win against Dan Wilson of Connecticut, a 4:01 tomorrow. Wilson took the pace out with Montgomery in tow, coming through the 400 in 59 and the half in 2:01. After the 1000 mark, Montgomery showed signs of not running as aggressively but held onto the pace. At the 3/4 mile mark Montgomery started to fade slightly but came through in 4:03. Instead of keeping an aggressive pace, Montgomery slowed in the final 300 and cruised in with another 4:11.00 for third place.
Non scoring, but significant efforts were turned in Yuval Mazor in the 400 and Jesse Alejandro in the 500. Mazor ran a personal indoor best of 50.12 in the 2 lap race. Alejandro went out a little too quickly in the 500, passing through the 400 in 50.9, but held on enough to run 1:06.33 to establish a new freshman record.
In the meet's final event, the 3200 Relay, MIT was not only going for the win, but also the 22 year old school record of 7:41.67. Brian Anderson led off the relay the way he likes to run, from in front. Running splits of 26.9, 54.5 and 1:22.7, Anderson finished in a season best 1:53.21 official photo finish time. Mark Jeunnette, showing he is back to last year's form, kept up with the teams from Boston College and UConn, bringing the baton in with a 1:55.40 time. Jesse Alejandro, going out a little too quickly (26.7) and making too dramatic a move to take the lead at the 400 mark, nevertheless, finished with a 60 final quarter to run 1:55.50. Montgomery, back almost 15 meters at the handoff, made up the difference too quickly, running 25.5 and 53.5 for his first two splits. Attempting to pass at an inopportune time, Montgomery was hung out on the curve and got bumped enough to throw his stride off and knock him out of the race for first. He did however have the presence of mind to bring the baton in in a new school record of 7:40.17, good enough for 3rd place.
Next week, the team will mostly rest up for nationals but may compete some individuals to work on speed or to improve their national qualifying position. The prestigious IC4A meet will be held at the Reggie Lewis Center in Boston and the ECAC Division III Championship will be hosted by Tufts University.