Despite Excellent Effort, Men Finish Third in New England Division III Championship

February 17-18, 2017

by Nickolas Davis

The 2017 Indoor Men's New England Division III Championship would prove to be quite challenging for the Engineers of MIT. Unlike recent years, this season's competition seemed to be wide-open with Tech four-point favorites over the host Jumbos of Tufts University. Not far behind loomed Middlebury College seeded for third and the ever-competitive Ephs of Williams College were seeded a not so distant fourth. Unfortunately for the Engineers, injuries and poorly timed illnesses looked to dampen MIT's point total and spirits. Despite the great adversity the team would face, its resolve proved incredibly strong and Tech would not lie down.

The championship started on Friday with the first day of the heptathlon. Tech Junior, Luke Gray, looked to get the Men of MIT started off on the right foot. Seeded for 1 point as the 8th-best seed, Gray looked to swing some points Tech's way by moving up the rankings. The day, however, was not Gray's best, starting with a 7.94 in the 60m Dash for 577 points. Gray then looked to improve his Long Jump PR from the week prior but was denied as he jumped 18-07 1/4 for 519 points. Gray's next event, the shot put, typically a strength, also failed to produce big points for the Junior with a performance of 36-02 3/4 and a point-total of 548. High Jump, the final event of Day One also ended in disappointing fashion as Gray registered a jump of 5'03" for 464 points. After Day One, Gray's point total was 2108, leaving him in 12th place. Despite the average start, Gray remained confident and focused, planning to use his strengths of the Pole Vault and 1000m to his advantage on Day Two. Unfortunately, Gray's second day proved similar to the first and started with a 9.66 in the 60m High Hurdles. Next up, Gray's greatest strength, the Pole Vault. In what proved to be a long Pole Vault competition, Gray was able to clear 12-03 1/2 for 549 points, helping him to gain a little ground, but not significant enough as he remained in 10th place with the 1000m to go. Gray gritted out the final event, doing everything in his power to make moves but his gutsy performance kept him in 10th position. Although not his best heptathlon performance, Gray's spirited competition did not go unnoticed. As seeded, Williams College got out to an early lead by scoring 18 points and taking the top two spots with strong performances from their top athletes Muellers and Riley.

Next up for the Engineers was Men's Weight Throw. Although not seeded for points, Jonathan Fakkema '19 seemed to be in the right mindset to score for Tech. Fakkema performed well, throwing 49-09 1/4, however, the throw left him only 3cm from making the finals and ultimately 13cm from scoring. Meanwhile, at the Long Jump pit, Williams College improved their point total by finishing 3-4-7, giving them a total of 13 points from an event in which they were seeded to score only 4. Unfortunately, due to injury, Tech's Okeke '17 and Ruschel '18 were sidelined, which likely would have given MIT points in a competition that only took 20-08 to make the final.

In the Pole Vault, Tech was seeded for 13 with a young group of vaulters. Although not in expected fashion, MIT maintained their point total of 13 with Scott Cameron '19 nabbing Tech’s first individual championship of the day with a jump of 15-05. Freshmen Bobby Upton also came through with a 6th place finish, vaulting a height of 14-11, while Raja Rajcic '20 finished just outside the scoring in 10th place with a vault of 13-11 1/4.

Back on the track, Tech remained hopeful that Aidan Gilson '19 would come up big in the mile and he certainly delivered. Coming into the competition as the 8th seed, Gilson '19 was poised to move up for some much needed points. As the race was underway, Gilson slid into 6th place, splitting a 63.1 in the first 400m. At the 800m mark, Gilson slowly began to move up and found himself in 4th position, running a 2:08.9. Gilson then decided that he needed to make a move, choosing to go with both Serrao and Perlman of Middlebury and moving strongly into 3rd position. Serrao and Perlman proved a bit too much for Gilson and began to pull away. With great focus, Gilson stayed strong despite running alone for nearly 600m. Finally, in the last 50m, Scott from WPI made one final move to out-kick Gilson who's gutsy performance resulted in a 4th place finish in a time of 4:17.19, a flat track season best. For Gilson, he improved his seed by four places and earned 4 more points than seeded. Middlebury, however, improved their position as well, earning 18 points, 6 over their seed.

Following Gilson's strong mile performance, Chris Sweeney '18 took to the 60m HH. After top-seeded hurdler, Jared Marshall of USM, succumbed to a pulled hamstring in the 60m dash prelims, there was room to move up for the 60m HH competitors. Seeded 4th in the event, Sweeney ran a time of 8.51 to win his preliminary heat and qualify for the final. In the final, Sweeney burst out of the blocks to run a time of 8.47, earning him 3rd place behind Tufts' Josh Etkind (8.28) and Bowdoin's Joseph Staudt (8.24) and 6 more points for Tech.

In the High Jump, Tech's freshmen trio of Alec Reduker, Chris Washington, and Steven Speck looked to add to Tech's score. The stage proved to be a bit too much for Speck '20 to handle, managing a jump of only 6-00 to finish 16th. Reduker and Washington remained poised, but as the competition heated up, it was only Washington who was able to maintain his focus. Although Reduker finished a disappointing 8th, clearing a height of 6-04, Washington stepped up, clearing 6-06 on his third attempt. After three strong but unsuccessful attempts at 6-08, Washington finished in 4th place jumping up one spot from his 5th seeded position. Overall, Tech was seeded to score 12 points in the event but was only able to manage 6 points, leaving the team in a hole. Tufts' Junior standout, Stefan Duvivier furthered the damage by winning the competition with a jump of 6-08, jumping up two spots from his third seed.

Back on the track, Tech's 400m tandem of Danny Newman '17 and Tom Frejowski '19 looked to beat their seeds and come away with a few points. Although running solid times in the process, Frejowski ran 52.04 and managed 15th place, while Newman ran a strong race from a slower section and finished one place out of scoring contention in 9th with a time of 51.16. Once again, Tufts out-performed their seed in front of the home crowd as Usoff finished 3rd with a time 50.27, while Middlebury's Martinez won in stunning fashion, running 48.65 and setting a new facility record. Following the 400m, MIT's Tyndale Hannan '20 looked to make up ground in the 600m. Fighting off illness, Hannan needed to dig down deep to help the Engineers. Refusing to give in, Hannan '20 started the race toward the back of the field in the fast section, coming through the 200m at 26.4 and the 400m at 53.9. Hannan then demonstrated his competitiveness by making a late charge, passing several in the process to finish 5th in a time of 1:22.79 and scoring 4 more valuable points for MIT. In what seemed to be a common theme, however, Tufts' DiMaiti took the 600m individual championship, out-performing his seed to grab ten more points for the Jumbos.

On the Triple Jump runway, Tech looked to Billy Ruschel '18 and Jason Villanueva '18 to bring in more points. Nursing a strained hamstring, Ruschel was not expected to compete, meaning a potential loss of 8 points for MIT. Following warm-ups, Ruschel decided to put it on the line for his team. In an incredible display of passion and selflessness Ruschel jumped 46-10 from a considerably shortened approach. Surprisingly, Ruschel's leap led the competition until the final round when USM's Connor Harris edged him by jumping 47-00 1/4. Ever the competitor, Ruschel tried to muster a second jump in an effort to regain the top spot for Tech, however, his hamstring would not allow him to do so. Meanwhile, Jason Villanueva chose the right time to put together his season's best performance and indoor PR. Seeded 10th coming into the competition, Villanueva jumped 44-04 1/4 in his final jump, moving him into 6th position. That position did not last long however, as Bridgewater's Cameron Williamson and Bates' Jeffrey Jones passed him on their final jumps of the competition. When the dust from the sandpit settled, Tech added 9 much-needed points to their total and the excitement seemed to spread for a while.

Following the Triple Jump final, Albritten '18 took to the 60m final. Not seeded to score in the event, Albritten '18 overcame a mediocre start in the prelims to run a 7.09 and qualify for the final. In the final, Albritten ripped off a big PR of 7.02 taking third in the process. The excitement of Albritten's performance was tempered, however, by the impressive performance of Tufts' short sprinters who ended up scoring 8 more points than they were seeded, scoring 14 total points with their 1-6-8 performance.

Following the 60m, Nathan Munet '19 took to the oval in the 800m. Sliding to the back early on in the race, Munet made several attempts to atone for his poor start, trying to make a series of surges. Splitting 57.3 at the 400m, Munet's surges only seemed to tire him. Munet finished in 1:57.96, good enough for 12th place. Meanwhile, Tufts' Watanabe took the win in a time of 1:54.13. In the 1000m, Gilson '19, recharged from his strong performance in the mile, completed what was perhaps one of the best doubles of his MIT career. Gilson got off to a solid start but was gapped around the 800m mark, coming through in 2:01.9. Gilson seemed to find an extra gear in the last 150m, made a late kick and came through in a season's best time of 2:30.93, good enough for 4th place and 5 more points for Tech. Simon Alford '20 also ran a strong race from the slower section, clocking a 2:33.27, just outside of scoring contention for 10th place.

As the meet wore on, it seemed more and more unlikely that Tufts would be overcome for the team championship. That being said, MIT had some big points still on the track with the 200m, 3K, 5K and relays remaining. Tech would not lie down and continued to compete with everything it had. In the 200m, Tre Albritten '18, the top seed, ripped out of the blocks in the fast section. From lane 3, Albritten seemed to be making up the stagger on everyone, entering the second turn. At the top of the turn, however, adversity struck again as Albritten re-aggravated a hamstring injury causing him to pull up and jog into the finish in a time of 24.29. Tech's loss of 10 points was a huge blow to the team, but their resolve remained strong with the distance races up next.

In the 3K, senior captain Matthew Deyo and Freshmen Josh Derrick looked to make up lost ground from the 200m race. Although Derrick '20 struggled in his New England Division III Championship debut, Deyo ran a fantastic race, sitting in 4th place after the 2K mark while Williams' Hale controlled the race from start to finish. Hale proved to be too strong to catch, however, Deyo ran incredibly smart, surged ahead, and held off a late kick from Tufts' Nichols in the last lap. Deyo finished second overall in a time of 8:22.12, which currently ranks 7th in NCAA Division III. Derrick finished in 8:46.88 for 16th. In the 5K, Tech's Dennis Maloney '19 absolutely dominated the field, gaining an early lead, extending the gap around the 2-mile mark, and kept his foot on the gas. Maloney '19 controlled the entire race and cruised in for the victory in New England Division III Championship record time, finishing in 14:33.73. Meanwhile, Tech hoped for a few others to step up and grab points. Unfortunately, 7th-seeded Rory Beyer '17 was unable to overcome an illness he had been dealing with all week. Giving everything he had, Beyer had to walk off the track and was treated by the athletic training staff as he was severely dehydrated. Daniel Weiss '19 and David Walter '18 also fought hard, but the competition proved to be too much as Walter '18 finished in a solid time of 15:20.24 for 9th while Weiss '19 ran 15:37.11 for 16th. As Tech dealt with continuing adversity, Williams showed that they were not going away. In the 3K and 5K, Williams College was able to score 23 points and were in 2nd place behind Tufts heading into the relays. Williams, however, was only seeded to score 3 points in the relays and would have to run fast times from the slow sections of the DMR and 4x800m.

In the Distance Medley Relay, Tech readied themselves for a big performance after watching Williams College post a very competitive time of 10:21.86 from the slow section. In the fast section, MIT was led by Freshmen Simon Alford ’20 in the 1200m leg. Alford got off to a great start running the first 800m in the 3rd position, splitting a 2:09.8 in the process. Then, in stunning fashion, Alford blew open a huge gap during the last 400m, passing the baton off in a 1200m split of 3:09.7 and earning Tech a sizeable lead. Ken Acquah ’20 grabbed the baton and ran a strong 400m leg of 53.4. Although the gap narrowed a bit, Acquah maintained the lead into the 800m leg run by senior captain, Henry Tareque. Tareque initially worked to extend the lead, splitting 57.1 through the first 400m, however, Tufts and Bowdoin began to reel him in and eventually passed him in the last 50m before he handed it off to Josh Rosenkranz ’19 for the final leg. Rosenkranz fought hard to regain the lead, running a 2:07.1 800m split but in the end did not have quite enough in the tank to overcome the runners from Tufts and Bowdoin, finishing his leg in a split of 4:23.3 and an overall time of 10:28.22. When the results came in, Williams College was declared the victor, winning the DMR from the slow section for the second year in a row. MIT was able to place 4th, earning 5 more points.

The 4x400m relay was the next event on the track. Since MIT had not earned a seed high enough to be in the fast section for the relay, running for time rather than place was the focus. Although MIT had lost Tre Albritten ’18 to a hamstring pull earlier in the meet, Tom Frejowski ’19 remained poised to compete to the best of his ability. The relay opened with a 51.0 split from Chris Sweeney ’18, giving Tech a solid start to a competitive race. Brandon Corts ’17 followed that up with a 52.0 split losing a little ground in the process. Tom Frejowski ’19 followed Corts by running one of his fastest splits on a flat track all year, coming in at 51.5. Anchor Danny Newman ‘17 tried to make up the distance in the final leg making a move early to improve his position but in the end could not explode off the final turn. When all sections were finished, MIT had earned 8th place with a time of 3:25.96. With only 1 point from the 4x400m, Tech, now fighting for second place, was down 9 points to Williams College with the 4x800m relay to go.

Entering the 4x800m relay, Tech understood the only chance it had of earning second place was to win the relay outright while Williams could not score. Although it was unlikely that this would happen, Tech’s focus and determination was not rattled in the least. Following another strong performance from Williams College from the slow section, who ran a time of 7:59.36, the Engineers of MIT demonstrated their pride and passion by putting everything they had into the final race. As the gun sounded, Nathan Munet ’19 did not make the same mistake as he did in the open 800m and positioned himself nicely in the first 400m, splitting a 57.1. In the last 200m, Munet opened up a slight lead and handed the baton to Brian Bates ’20, splitting a 1:57.0 in the process. Bates, a late addition to the 4x800m due to injury, performed incredibly well and was ready to make the most of his opportunity. After splitting a 59.0 in his first 400m, Bates lost his slight lead. On his last turn, Bates was able to regroup and regain the lead handing the baton off to Billy Woltz ’20 and finishing in a split of 2:00. Woltz fought extremely hard in his leg, being challenged all the way. Woltz split a 57.6 at the 400m mark, but couldn’t quite hold on, getting passed in the last 70m by both Coast Guard and Middlebury. Finishing his leg in a solid 2:00.5, Woltz handed the stick to Tyndale Hannan ’20 in 3rd position. Coming off of his gutsy 600m performance while fighting off illness, Hannon’s determination continued to impress as he fought hard to make several moves on the straight away in the first 400m. After splitting a 56.8, Hannan did not seem to have enough left to mount another attack, but fended off Connecticut College and WPI, finishing in a split of 1:59.1 and an overall time of 7:57.15 which was good enough for 3rd place.

As the final scores came in, MIT found itself in 3rd place with a total of 84 points, trailing only Williams College (92) and host Tufts University (127). On paper, MIT’s finish may have been perceived as a devastating loss from a team accustomed to winning. In reality, Tech’s performance proved to be hard-fought, passionate display from a team torn by injury and illness.

Over the next two weeks, at the NEICAAA Championship at the Reggie Lewis Center in Boston and the Final Qualifying meet at Tufts, MIT will try to strengthen their position for the NCAA Division III Championship in three weeks. Currently, Albritten ranks number one in the 200, but his hamstring may not recover in time. Maloney is pretty solid in the 5K, ranked third and Deyo is ranked seventh in the 3K and ninth in the 5K. Ruschel is also ranked seventh in the Triple Jump. Getting another competitor or two qualified would certainly bode well for the Engineers.

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