RELAYS ANCHOR MIT EFFORT

Men's DMR, Women's 4x400 Earn NCAA Automatic Standard

February 11-12, 2011

Most of MIT's runners performed at the Boston University Valentines Classic this weekend, while most of the field event performers competed at the MIT Invitational, both non-scoring meets. Both meets were tuneups for the upcoming New England Division III Championships next weekend. The men's Distance Medley Relay and the women's 4x400 Meter Relay both took advantage of the fast track and great competition to surpass the NCAA Division III automatic standard.

The men's DMR was the first event of the weekend. Seeded in the fast section, MIT's quartet of sophomores were confident running against the predominantly Division I competition. Leading off, Logan Trimble attacked the 1200 leg with an opening split of 62, and moved up in the field as he came through the 800 in 2:03. Falling back a little, but holding on nicely in time, Trimble handed off in 3:03.9. DJ Ronde took the baton in the crowded exchange zone, running an excellent 50.6 400 leg to keep MIT in it. Pat Marx moved up right at the handoff, going out in 26.0 for the first 200. Settling in a little, Marx ran 54.6 at the 400 and 1:23.7 at the 600. In the final lap, Marx moved up significantly to finish in 1:52.4. Kyle Hannon ran like a man possessed, blasting the first 200 of the 1600 leg in 28.9. Moving up consistently throughout the race, Hannon ran the perfect race, making all the right decisions. His splits of 60.0, 2:01.3 and 3:04.0 brought him much closer to the leaders. In the final 400, Hannon ran 61.6 to finish in 4:05.6 and give MIT a time of 9:52.13. This not only surpassed the NCAA automatic standard, but also set one of MIT's most prestigious records, formerly 9:53.16.

The remainder of the men would compete on Saturday, while the women were just getting prepared to start. The 400 was the first event for the ladies. Portia Jones '12, stepped to the line for her first competitive 400 of the year. Running well, but settling a bit in the second lap, Jones had trouble getting back up to sprint, but still managed an NCAA Division III provisional qualifying time with her 56.80. Jamie Simmons '12, ran most of her 400 from lane two, which affected her ability to relax. This resulted in a slower time than expected as she ran 58.53. Martha Gross '12, still recovering from an early season back injury, allowed a slow start and the back to get into her head, giving her a sub-par 61.26. Megan Bumgarner ran a solid race, matching her season best of 61.45.

The MIT women again dominated the Pole Vault, placing 1-2-6. Karin Fisher '11, once again dominated, clearing 12-5 1/2 and having a very good attempt at 12-11. Hazel Briner '11, had trouble putting things together, but still managed to clear 11-11 3/4. Lauren Kuntz '13, cleared 10-11 3/4.

In the 60 meter HH, Jones had a terrible start, standing up at the gun and not running her best for the remainder of the race, but still clocking a 9.24. Amy Magnuson 'G, had her best race of the season, even though her hamstring had been a bit tight the week before. Her 9.20 was a nice improvement for the former All American. Jackie Brew '14, improved her technique in the hurdles, but not her time, running 9.52. Bumgarner did improve her time significantly, running 9.67 for a new personal best.

Brew was the only MIT runner in the 60 meter dash and she ran a personal best for 60 meters with a 8.20 time. Brew saved the best for last as she knocked another seven tenths off of her 200 best, running a 26.10, the second fastest time in MIT history.

In the Mile Run, Louise van den Heuvel '14, took the lead in the first 400, running 75, but then settling in and letting the pack pass her as she slowed to mid 76 for the next two quarters. In the final 400 she fought back a bit to finish in a new personal best of 5:03.98.

Olivia Papa '14, ran a new personal best in the 800, timed in 2:20.37. Papa led start to finish, going out a bit too fast in 32.3 and 67.8, but managed to hold on well given she ran by herself the entire race.

The final individual race of day one for the Engineers was the 3K. Martina de Geus '14, was trying for 80-81 second quarters and was right on pace through 1200 meters, splitting 4:04.2. She then slowed to 82-83 and then finally 85 in the penultimate 400 before finishing with an 80 to run a new personal best of 10:17.52.

In the 4x400, the women were hoping to not have to continue to chase times all season, intending to reach the automatic standard the first time out. Simmons led things off with a very well run 58.1 opening leg. Briner went out to move up on the Division I teams, splitting 27.0 for the first 200 and ran an amazing 57.6. Gross again got out slow, but certainly competed better than in the open 400, splitting 59.7. This put the team in fourth, about 20 meters back when Jones received the baton. Getting out very well, Jones caught the group immediately and covered the first 200 in 25.8. Settling once she caught the leaders instead of going around them, she again had trouble getting back up to sprint speed. Her 56.9 was enough to give MIT a 3:52.35, .05 under the automatic qualify time for nationals, achieving the team goal.

On day two, things began with the women's Distance Medley Relay. The goal for MIT was to get a fast enough time to get into the faster sections in the championships and to get a chance to run a national qualifying time at a later time in the season. Andrea Nickerson '14, led off the group of four freshman. She competed well, easily running the best race of the season as she ran 3:46.0. The handoff to Bumgarner was less than ideal, but her 400 leg of 62.1 was solid enough. Papa returned to the track, again going out too fast (32.6 and 68.0). She slowed a little too much, running 74 for the final 400 to finish in 2:22.3. Louise van den Heuvel anchored the relay, getting out well in 74.3 for the first 400. Rather than go by the group she was behind, she settled and the group slowed to 80 second pace. She was able to bring the pace back to a 78 and then a 76 to finish in 5:08.1 and an overall time of 12:18.57, accomplishing the team goal and setting the freshman record.

In the men's 400, Jake Jurewicz '14, had the surprise performance for MIT, clocking 50.49. DJ Ronde, returned from the DMR the day before to run 51.45. Nick Leonard '11, lost his momentum when someone cut him off and was unable to recover, finishing in 52.32.

Josh Duncavage '13, and Babajide Akinronbi '14, were representing MIT in the sprint events, the 60 and 200. In the 60, Akinronbi ran 7.24 and Duncavage ran 7.29. Later in the 200, Duncavage ran a personal best of 22.46 and Akinronbi knocked off more than a tenth of a second, running 22.81. The surprise for MIT was Tyler Singer-Clarke '14. He had missed a couple meets with a strained hip flexor, but returned to run an excellent 22.69.

The 500 was an outstanding event for MIT. David Way '13, and Mac Gager '14, were in the same section. Both had near identical splits of 25 and 51.5 and they finished side by side with Way edging out Gager 1:06.44 to 1:06.47, both excellent times. Logan Daum '11, ran 1:07.39 and Gil O'Neil 1:08.36.

If the 500 was considered outstanding then the 1000 was unbelievable. No less than four MIT runners ran faster than the 10th place on the all-time MIT list. Hannon ran a near perfect race. Settling on the pace in the fourth lap was his only error, causing him to get passed and put into third place briefly. However, he rectified that situation and ran away with a 2:27.12, the second fastest time ever for MIT. Trimble and Richard Prevost '11, were in the same section together and ran within a couple of tenths of each other until the final lap. Both came through the 800 in 1:59.5. Trimble made the move at the right time and finished in the sixth best MIT time ever, a 2:28.76. Prevost remained on the list in 10th with a new personal best of 2:29.26. Justin Bullock '14, lowered his PR by a few seconds as he ran 2:30.51, a fantastic time for a freshman. Andrew Erickson '12, lowered his season best to 2:33.20.

MIT only had two runners in the mile, Eric Safai '14, and Jay McKenna '14. Safai ran a great race, splitting 65 and 2:10, before slightly twisting his ankle, causing him to briefly slow. However, he got back on the horse, running 61.8 in the final quarter to finish in 4:19.69. McKenna ran a great strategic race, but not a great technical one. As he tried to go faster he leaned forward more. By the end of the race he was leaning so far over he could not effectively sprint. His 4:26.13 was approximately what he has been racing this year.

The 800 featured Pat Marx and his attempt to qualify for nationals, despite a slight cold he had been nursing. Marx was seeded in the third section. The pace went out quickly enough with a 27.2 for Marx and he was back in the pack. He moved up a little at a time, coming through splits of 55.2 and 1:23.6. He took the lead coming off the final turn and sprinted through the line in 1:52.49, easily exceeding the NCAA provisional standard and coming with .3 of the automatic standard. Dawit Zewdie '13, did not get out very well in his section of the 800 and had to run from behind. His splits were okay, running 28.7, 58.0 and 1:28.0 before he got out and kicked a bit to close in a time of 1:57.87. Jared Forman '14, recently back from injury, took the lead in his section of the race, starting in lane six and never seeing another runner until the finish line when he got nipped at the line in 1:59.38.

In the 4x400, MIT wanted to run fast enough to keep them among the top six teams in New England Division III so that they would be in the fast section in next weeks championship. Ronde led things off, but did not get out well at all, running the first 200 in 24.6. Ronde handed off at 51.4 to Jurewicz. Jurewicz split 23.9 and 50.4, making up a lot of ground on his opponents. Gager took over the duties on the third leg, splitting an excellent 50.2. Marx, only 40 minutes or so after his 800, anchored the 4x400 with an excellent 49.4 to give the team a season best of 3:21.34.

The 3000 was the final event and Paul Welle was the lone MIT representative. Trying to gain a faster time to make sure he gets into the faster section if he chooses to race in the 3K next week, Welle went out with the field and worked his way up as the pace slowed from 69 seconds per quarter to 70 seconds. Welle maintained 69 pace through 2400 meters and then picked it up to 66 pace to finish in 8:34.82, a 12 second improvement over his previous season best.

Back at MIT there were also some excellent performances. For the women, Chandler Schlupf '14, improved her high jump by over 3" to 4-9 3/4. Becca Greene '14, improved a full foot in the Pole Vault to 9-6 1/4. Also, Brooke Hamilton '14, is starting to learn the Weight Throw as she added nearly nine inches to her personal best with a throw of 36-2 1/4.

Ken Cooper '13, led the way for the men. blasting the 35lb. weight 61-2, just four inches away from an automatic qualifier for the NCAA Division III Championship. Nate Peterson '12, also reached the provisional qualifying mark, but in the pole vault. Peterson's 15-5 1/2 came just in time to put MIT in a better position for the upcoming championship. Drew Musacchio '11, ran a season best in the 55HH with his 8.23 performance. Mattias Flander '11, began to return to his previous best form with his triple jump of 44-2.

Next Friday and Saturday, MIT plays host to the Women's New England Division III Indoor Track and Field Championship while the men travel to Springfield for the men's championship. In the women's meet, Williams College is the favorite with MIT seeded second and in the men's meet, Bates College is favored with MIT second. Both meets should be very interesting if MIT continues to perform at their current level.

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