VARSITY AND FRESHMEN RECORDS FALL AS MIT HAS PHENOMENAL MEET AT ALL NEW ENGLANDS

February 24-25, 2012

MIT traveled across the river to Boston University for the New England Intercollegiate Amateur Athletic Association Championship (NEICAAA), the All Division New England Championship. MIT only goes for team points in the New England Division III Championship, which occurred last weekend and the NCAA Division III Championship. This meet, and next weekends double meet; the IC4A Championship and the ECAC Division III Championship are used solely for qualifying purposes for Nationals. With that declaration, and with resting some key middle-distance performers and all distance runners, the Engineers were still the top scoring Division III team in both the men's and women's meet. The women finished 11th of 35 scoring teams with 29 points while the men were 13th out of 34 scoring teams with 22 points.

Overall, this was certainly the best meet of the year for MIT, and quite possibly the best single meet in MIT history. All in all, four varsity records fell, with another legendary record being missed by .14 seconds, one freshman record and two more with marginal misses, two victories and eight strong NCAA qualifying performances were the highlights for this championship.

The men started things off for MIT on day one with Nathan Peterson '12 in the Pole Vault. Peterson made his first attempt at 15-0, and 15-6 and a season best 16-0 3/4. With three vaulters remaining, Peterson had three solid attempts at 16-7, but it was not quite there today. He ended up with a second place tie, scoring seven points for MIT and moved up to number nine on the NCAA list.

In the Weight Throw, CK Umachi '12, currently number four on the NCAA list, needed his last throw in the trials to move into the finals. In his warmups prior to finals he started putting things together. On his first throw in the finals, Umachi threw 62-5 3/4 to take the lead. Even though he was not stepping in aggressively Umachi won the event by one centimeter, giving Tech 10 more points.

In the 400, Tyler Singer-Clark '14, despite getting boxed in on the second lap, was able to run a very competitive 49.74, a personal best, but did not make the finals.

Sam Parker '15, missed the 800 freshman record, held by Paul Neves '83 by .04 seconds with his 1:52.98. Caught up in a very fast heat, Parker was hanging on for dear life in the back of the pack with splits of 26.8, 53.8 and 1:23.0. Parker's time moved him to number 11 on the NCAA list. Also in the 800 was Pat Marx '13. Marx was hoping to improve on his best time, but despite a nice start, he allowed the outside alley to break in front of him and then the others passed him, putting him in last. He made a good move to get into fifth, but then backed off a strong move entering the turn two different times. He finished strong, but only ran 1:53.35. Marx is currently number 10 on the NCAA list based on a time from two weeks ago.

The women also began the meet with the Pole Vault. Lauren Kuntz '13, still unable to find the form that put her over 12' in 2011, was clean through 11-6 1/2 to earn seventh place, but did not have a good attempt at 12-0 1/2. Joanna Chen '15 set a personal best of 11-0 3/4, missing the freshman record by 1/4". Marissa Engle '15 cleared 10-6 3/4 while Kate Wymbs '14 successfully made 10-0 3/4. Kuntz is number 11 on the NCAA list.

In the 400, Jamie Simmons '12 and Maddie Bairey '15 were in the first heat. Simmons did not get the break, but was second in 27.5. Not slowing down, Simmons took the lead going down the backstretch and sped home in a personal best 56.68. Bairey, her first time in a 400 heat, was taken aback at how far back she was at the 200 mark. Her split was fine in 28.5, but the distance behind shook her confidence, causing her to mentally fall out of the race and finish in 62.12. Martha Gross '12 was up next and she delivered a season best 59.33. Finally, Portia Jones '12 got in the blocks. Running a very controlled first 200, Jones passed the leader entering the third turn and never was challenged as she cruised to a 56.38 finish.

Cindy Huang '15, blew away her own freshman record in the 800, running 2:15.96. Her first 400 was 68.2, so she took the lead and pushed the pace to 1:41.5. In the final 200 she was passed on the backstretch and then lost her technique a bit as she struggled to respond. She maintained her speed to set the new record. Huang is now number 24 on the NCAA list and will need to improve about another 1.5 seconds to get into the required top 15 that are selected for the National Championship. Alexandra Taylor '14 and Margaret Coad were in the next heat. Taylor worked her way to the top third of the pack with Coad two to three places behind. Both came through the 400 in 69 seconds and in pretty good position. Taylor was able to respond well, finishing in a personal best of 2:18.10. Coad set a personal best herself in 2:20.00.

Jones returned to the track in the 200, easily winning her heat in 24.89 to advance to the finals. Jackie Brew '14, who earlier competed in the Long Jump with a 16-10 performance, added a personal best 25.44 in the 200, narrowly missing the finals.

On day two, the women's High Jump was the first event for MIT. Both Kristine Bunker '14 and Preethi Vaidyanathan '15 missed clearing the opening height of 5' 3", although Bunker had one good attempt, but knocked it off with her calf. Both MIT jumpers are tied for number 35 on the NCAA list and will need to improve two more inches to 5-5 3/4 to make it to the NCAA Championship.

First up on the track was Kyle Hannon '13 in the men's seeded Mile Run. With a sub 4:00 miler in the group it was expected the pace would be fast, and it was. Hannon was in the back with splits of 60.1 and 2:01.5. There was a break in the middle of the pack and Hannon took a little too long to respond. His pace slowed to 3:04.0, but he began to move again in the final 400, closing nicely to place seventh in an MIT record 4:06.42. This marvelous performance moved Hannon to number four on the NCAA list.

Right after Hannon showed his ability, Louise van den Heuvel '14 toed the line in the women's seeded Mile. The pace was unusually slow, which worked very well for van den Heuvel. Her first 400 was 74.0 and she was towards the front of the pack. She ran a very smart race, covering her outside and moving when necessary to avoid getting passed or boxed in. The half mile mark was 2:27.5 thanks to van den Heuvel taking the lead briefly to keep the pace honest. The third quarter saw a break in the field, but van den Heuvel ran another 74 to come through in 3:41.6. Making her one error she settled for about 200 meters when she should have trusted her legs, van den Heuvel slowed behind a UConn runner until the final 100 when she moved but was partially boxed in at that point. Nevertheless, she was able to close well, finishing in a new MIT record of 4:55.56 to place sixth overall. van den Heuvel is now fifth on the National list.

In the 400, Simmons and Jones were in the two section final. Simmons was in the first section and she took advantage of the opportunity. Running another very well paced race, Simmons hit the 200 mark in 27.2. She continued to push and passed the leaders as she came up on them, straight or curve did not matter. Flying straight through the finish with the section victory, Simmons finished with a new personal best of 56.38, good for fifth overall and seventh on the NCAA list. Jones was in the fast section of the five fastest runners from the trials on Friday. Running a much better paced race than earlier in her career, Jones was in fourth coming into the 200 mark at 26.4. She moved into second right away and kept closing the gap on the leader, passing for the victory right before the finish. Jones new MIT and personal record now stands at 55.18. This ranks Jones as the top performer in the country for Division III. Jones is also ranked third in the 60HH, which she will compete in next week at the ECAC Division III Championship at the NY Armory.

An hour later, Jones was back on the track for the finals of the 200. Unfortunately, she drew lane 3 in the four runner fast section, putting her at a severe disadvantage. Jones was very motivated and still finished second in her section, and third overall in a season best 24.71.

The final women's event for MIT was the 4x800 Relay. The quartet of Huang, Taylor, Coad and van den Heuvel had broken the MIT record the week before in the New England Division III Championship, running 9:24.87 in an uncontested victory. This time, they were relatively fresh and against the best competition in New England, including the best Division I had to offer. Huang started off in the crowded field. She settled too far back where the pace was not very fast, hitting a relatively slow 400 in 69.2. Huang picked it up a bit in the final 100 to split 2:18.0. Taylor took over the baton duties, making a strong move early, possibly too strong as she hit splits of 31.6 and 65.3. Although she slowed, it was not by much as she ran her fastest 800 ever, a 2:16.1. Coad took the baton, and although she was aggressive the other legs she was competing against were very fast. She split 67.0 and lost about 20 meters on the field. However she only lost one position overall and split an excellent 2:19.2. van den Heuvel got things moving with a 66.4 first quarter and made up some ground. She moved into fifth place in the final quarter and never gave it up, ending with a 2:16.8, fifth place and a new MIT record of 9:10.19. Unfortunately this event is not an NCAA Championship event. However, the DMR is and Tech is ranked fourth in the country in that event, while the men are ranked seventh.

The men finished the meet off with the 4x400 Relay. Entering the meet with a time of 3:18.75, a time that would not get them to the NCAA Division III Championship, the foursome of Singer-Clark, Mac Gager '14, Parker and Marx knew they would have to run sub 3:17 to have a chance at making the championship in two weeks. Starting in the next to fastest section, Singer-Clark led off. He made a great move on the homestretch to take the lead at the 200 mark, splitting 22.6. He held the lead as he handed off to Gager in 48.5. Gager maintained the lead until the final stretch where he fell just behind, splitting 49.6. Parker made his collegiate debut in the 4x400 and held his own. The handoff was a little slow, but his 800 strength prevailed as he ran 50.1 to hand off to Marx in second place. Marx was in arrears to Williams by 15 meters at the handoff. Marx came through the 200 in 22.2 to make up half the distance and kept pushing, closing the gap to within a couple of feet as he finished in 47.5 to give MIT an overall time of 3:15.88 and sixth place in the entire field. This missed the MIT record by .14 seconds held by the legendary quartet of Ayisi Makatiani '90, Mark Dunzo '91, Bill Singhose '90 and Kevin Scannell '91. MIT is ranked third on the NCAA list for both the men and women in the 4x400 relay.

Next week, most of the men will again compete at Boston University in the IC4A Championship, a conference made up of some the the most prestigious Division I schools in the East, while the women will travel to the NY Armory to compete in the ECAC Division III Championship. Next Saturday will be the final day to qualify for the NCAA Division III Championship.

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