RECORDS: VARSITY, FRESHMAN AND PERSONAL FALL AT NEICAAA CHAMPIONSHIP

February 27, 2010

Despite not competing many individuals due to needed rest and recovery or the decision to get ready for the outdoor season, MIT's indoor track and field teams performed tremendously, setting two varsity records, two freshman records and fourteen personal or season bests with just 26 total competitors at this weekends NEICAAA (New England Intercollegiate Amateur Athletic Association) Championship.

The women finished seventh with 31 points in this prestigious meet where teams from all divisions (I, II and III) compete against each other. Karin Fisher '11, led the way, improving her pole vault to 12-4 to win the event and move her to number nine on the NCAA Division III list and number two on the MIT all-time list. Suppporting Fisher was Hazel Briner '11, who cleared 11-11 3/4 to finish fourth.

Portia Jones '12, led the 400 trio; Jamie Simmons '12, and Martha Gross, as all three made the finals. Jones, owning the fastest time in the country for Division III, finished third with a 56.13 clocking. Simmons, finished fifth after running 56.70 in the trials for the fourth fastest time in the country. Gross ran a personal best of 58.28 in the finals even though she did not place.

At the end of the day, Briner joined Jones, Simmons and Gross to place third in the 4x400 relay in 3:51.61, the second fastest time in the country and a new MIT record. After taking too long of a warmup and looking a little fatigued from doing so, Simmons led off in 57.2. A poor handoff to an impatient Gross produced a 58.3 split. Briner, probably still feeling the effects of her pentathlon and fever from last weekend, ran 59.9. Jones brought the baton home in 56.0 but had more left in the tank as she appeared to shut down with 100 to go.

The men finished 21st with 12 points, leaving Stephen Morton '10, out of the jumps, giving his legs a break after his four events last weekend.

Leading the way was the surprising 4x800 relay, made up entirely of freshmen, who put together an MIT freshman record breaking performance to place fourth in 7:44.24. Leading the way in his third race of the weekend was Pat Marx '13, who seemed tentative and unsure of his ability. However, being the competitor that he is, Marx ran 29s for every 200, finishing in 1:57.7 to put MIT in fourth place in the second fastest section of teams. Dawit Zewdie '13, threw caution to the wind and simply raced, splitting 26.2, 54.5, 1:24.9 and 1:54.1 to put MIT in third place and closed down on the first two teams. Logan Trimble '13, did not let the excellent leg by Zewdie go to waste, taking it out in 56.0 and finishing in 1:55.6 to keep MIT in third place. Hannon, running his second race of the day ran a very strong leg, splitting 1:56.8 to give MIT third in their section. Only one team in the fast section ran faster than MIT, giving the Engineers the fourth place. All four legs ran personal bests.

Earlier in the day, Marx was in the finals of the 500, running in the slower of the two section final after qualifying the day before. Going out in 49.9 at the 400 and running a perfect strategic race, he finished second in his section by .06 seconds and sixth overall in a new freshman record of 1:04.32, the number two performance all-time for MIT.

Also earlier, Hannon raced in the mile where he was hoping to qualify for nationals. The provisional qualifying mark on a banked track is 4:15.00 and the automatic standard is 4:10.00. Hannon was in the second of three sections, which turned out to be just right. After a very good start, Hannon settled in the pack, coming through splits of 62 and 2:05. The pace then slowed and of course a lot of jostling and contact took place. Hannon kept speeding up and slowing down as he tried to navigate through the pack, which slowed to 3:11 at the three quarter mark. Finally breaking free, Hannon finished with a 61 final quarter to complete the mile in 4:12.18 to set the MIT freshman record and meet the NCAA provisional standard. Placing third in his section, Hannon placed seventh overall. His time was also a new personal best.

On Friday, Nathan Peterson '12, matched his personal best of 15-3 as he placed seventh in the pole vault. Greg Tao '10, also cleared 15-3 but did not place due to too many misses.

Also on Friday, Stephen Morton '10, set yet another MIT record with his 21.92 200. Also running a personal best was Josh Duncavage '13, running 22.59.

In the 55HH, despite a poor start, Eric Boyer '13, ran a personal best of 8.02.

Dan Harper '12, running with a cold, ran an inspiring season best of 15:18.50 in the 5000 meters, keeping all 400 splits between 72-75 seconds for a very well run race.

Tony McDonald '10, threw a personal best in his final collegiate 35 lb. weight throw ever, tossing the weight 52-1 3/4. McDonald really put the exclamation point on his final two weeks of indoor with three personal bests.

Next weekend, MIT will send those who have qualified for the NCAA Championships to the ECAC and IC4A Championships with hope to improve their marks.

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