MIT Men's Track and Field Team Takes Weekend Off
February 29 - March 1
After last weekend's New England Division III Championship many MIT track and field athletes began working towards the outdoor season while a few; who were seniors hoping for a career best, those trying to continue to improve and a couple trying to qualify for the NCAA Championship, competed at the NEICAAA (New England Intercollegiate Amateur Athletic Association) All Division New England Championship hosted by Boston University. As it turned out, many of those who competed for MIT took the weekend off as well. The physical and emotional fatigue lingering after such an all out effort left most results short of outstanding as no MIT men's track and field athlete set a season or personal best.
The pole vaulters started things off for Tech. At the opening height, 14' 3", Omari Stephens cleared but Greg Tao, still suffering from a severe cold no heighted. Stephens cleared 14' 9" as well but was unable to have a successful vault at 15' 3", a height that placed second through seventh place.
In the 55HH, Anthony Teixeira ran 7.94 in the trials to advance to Saturday's finals. Stephens, rushing over from the vault, did not get a fast start, decelerated over two hurdles and only managed a 8.09.
Back on the oval, Stephen Oney could not keep up his string of personal bests, running 51.20 in the 400. Right after Oney finished, John Granata and Matt Bieniosek took to the track in the 800. Granata was hoping for an NCAA qualifying performance while Bieniosek wanted atonement for last week and to make finals. Both were in the last heat. Normally the heats are run strategically, just hoping to be one of the top two or the next two fastest to make the Saturday final. This was not the case in their section. The lead runner went out in splits of 25, 51 and 1:17 en route to a 1:48 final time. Granata, determined to run a fast time, went out trying to keep up and paid the price, getting nipped at the line for the second qualifying spot even though he ran 1:55.33. Bieniosek struggled for the second straight weekend, running 1:58.18.
On Saturday, the triple jumpers got things started and all had difficulty getting accustomed to the wooden base runway with so much bounce. Stephen Morton, only competing in the triple after such a fatiguing weekend the previous week, fouled every attempt. Teixeira could not hit the board, but he did manage a 43- . Mattias Flander had the same difficulty, only jumping. Teixeira's day was not a total loss, in the 55HH semis he ran 8.89, just .02 off his personal best and by far the fastest he had run at Boston University.
Paul Welle and Gihan Amarasiriwardena were on the oval in the mile and 3000 meter races respectively. Welle felt fatigued from the outset, only able to run 4:30.91, no where near his 4:21 best. Amarasiriwardena competed well but was unable to stay aggressive in the latter parts of the race as his quarter pace slowed from 70's where he ran 4:42 for the 1600 to 73's to finish in 8:54.41.
The final event for the men was the 3200 relay. Granata was to lead off to give MIT the chance to keep up with the leaders in the fast section. Granata should adopt the nickname Murphy given all the the misfortune he has been having the past two weeks. His luck did not change as just after the 300 mark as he was looking very strong his right hand came back, hitting the chest of the runner behind him, knocking it out of his hand. By the time Granata managed to pick up the baton the pack was forty meters ahead. The team, made up of Bieniosek, Richard Prevost and Kevin Kleinguetl, never caught up, running too fast in the first 200 and tiring in the final 200. The weekend just was not meant to be for MIT Track and Field.
Next week, a select few will go to Harvard University to compete in the ECAC Division III Championship while Granata will go back to Boston University to try one final time to qualify for nationals in the 800 in the prestigious IC4A Championship.