MIT TRACK COMPETES WELL IN COED INVITE
Top Performers Rest for Division III Championship
February 15, 2003
Seven men's teams and ten women's teams competed today at the MIT Coed Invitational. There was no score kept, and many teams either sent their best athletes to Boston University to run on the fast banked track, or rested them for next week's New England Division III Championship. However, those who did compete produced some fine performances.
MIT's best results came in the throwing events. In the weight throw, Tech's past and present throwers placed 1-4 and produced two personal bests. Chris Khan won with a throw of 56-0. Assistant coach and alumnus Todd Chamoy threw a personal best of 54-0 1/2 for 2nd. Freshman, Uzoma Orji threw over 52' for the second week in a row for 3rd with 52-4. David Saylor also set a personal best with a throw of 51-5 1/2. In the shot put, it was Orji's turn to take first with a toss of 53-4 1/2. Khan threw for a personal best of 44-3 1/4 for 3rd place. Francisco Cruz had a season best of 41-6 for 6th.
The next strongest area for the Engineers were the sprints. Zach Traina claimed two first places, running 6.65 in the 55 meter dash and 22.95 in the 200. Freshman David Blau did his part by placing 2nd in the 55 with a 6.68 and 3rd in the 200 with a 23.53.
The middle distances went well for MIT even though the performances were not quite at the championship level. In the 800, Steve Stoddard ran a personal indoor best with a 2:00.92 to place 3rd. In the 1500 Steve Maltas ran an outstanding 4:08.07 for the victory. Craig Wildman and David Gray supported Maltas's victory with a 3rd and 4th in 4:09.99 and 4:12.14 respectively, both MIT bests. John Brewer ran a season best with a 4:14.70 to place 6th.
Ben Schmeckpeper and Sean Nolan returned to active status with an easy 1-2 in the 3000 with times of 8:55.15 and 8:57.22 respectively. Ian Driver made a valiant effort at sub 16:00 pace in the 5000 but went a little overboard with a 15:40 pace. Driver fell off the pace in the final mile but still ran a 16:15.67 for 3rd.
The only other victory for MIT came in the Distance Medley Relay. Steve Maltas led off with a 3:17 1200. Zach Traina provided a fine 50.8 400 leg to put MIT well in the lead. Steve Stoddard added a 2:01 to give the Engineers a good possibility of breaking 10:40. Craig Wildman was a little too anxious and delivered a 62 first 400. Only able to produce quarters of 70, 72 and 72 afterwards gave MIT a cumulative time of 10:46.12, the best of the season.
Taking a rest were pentathletes Craig Mielcarz, Rick Rajter and Tom Hoover. Austin Neudecker and Nate Ball wanted to give their legs another week to heal from minor injuries. Brian Anderson raced over at Boston University and ran the mile in a personal best of 4:12.17 after getting boxed in in the middle of the race.
Next week, MIT plays host to the New England Division III Championship with the pentathlon taking place on Friday at noon and the remainder of the meet starting at 11:00 on Saturday. MIT does not have the necessary balance to be favorites but their senior leadership may overcome the odds and enable them to win their 3rd title in the last four years.