Alums, Led by Performances From Forman and Gong, Make an Impression on Varsity
December 15, 2018
This weekend, as the MIT Track & Field team members prepare for final exams, and the alums coming from around the country to watch and compete, take a break from their work schedules to honor the annual Alumni/ae vs. Varsity meet that is now in its 45th year, there is one constant and that is the feeling of family. Whether a current member or one who graduated three decades ago, they are all one team and nothing brings that out more than this annual affair.
After the respective team cheers, the competition got underway. The alumnae had an impressive team and if not for a couple empty events it looked as though they could give their varsity counterparts a good meet. This was backed up by not only winning five of the six field events, but outscoring the varsity 33 to 21 in those events despite not having any entries in the Triple Jump.
Ariela Slutsky '18 led the way in the Weight Throw, taking first place honors by throwing 52-04 3/4 after not having thrown the weight in nine months. Jackie Vahey '17 took second with a 50-00 1/2 effort. Likewise, in the Shot Put, Isabella Stuopis '16 gets better with age, winning easily with a 40-02 3/4 throw. Vahey again took second, throwing 37-05.
Cimmy Virdi '16 took first place in the Pole Vault, clearing 12-05 1/2. Although they did not win, Kari Stromhaug '19 and Jacqueline Ahrens '21 vaulted well from a short approach, claiming second and third, clearing 11-11 3/4 and 11-05 3/4 respectively.
Preethi Vaidyanathan '15 won out on misses, taking first place honors in the High Jump with a 5-03 effort. Tying for second, Natalie Alper '17 and Liana Reilly '21 also cleared 5-03.
In the Long Jump, Hannah Chen '18 came out of retirement to show she should have stayed in the Long Jump while on the team. Chen won with a jump of 16-06, outperforming Yilinn Yang '22 at 16-00 1/2 and Elena Andree '22 at 15-09.
The bright spot for the Varsity in the field events was the Triple Jump, where Elizabeth Weeks '21 won by jumping 35-05 3/4 over teammates Lucy Lee '21 and Yang.
On the track is where the Alumnae stumbled by not having enough entries. Maryann Gong '17 had the most impressive victory, pulling away in the Mile to dominate in 5:03.98. Similiarly, Mary Eccles '18 showed she still has it, also easily winning, taking the 5K in 18:07.11. Katie Williams '21 placed second for the Varsity in the Mile, running 5:13.29, slowing too much while running in limbo once Gong pulled away. Alana Chandler '22 ran her debut 5K on the 200 meter track, clocking 18:49.13 for second place for the Varsity.
A much anticipated 800 meter race took place between Bailey Tregoning '19 and Louise van den Heuvel '14. The pace was solid as van den Heuvel led the way with a 34 first 200 and 69 400. Tregoning and Kira Buttrey '22 were about three meters back. As the third lap proceeded, van den Heuvel picked up the pace, but Tregoning was game, although Buttrey fell off. In the final lap Tregoning took the lead early and hammered home in 2:16.36 to win over van den Heuvel (2:18.28).
Alexandra Taylor '14 put on a good show in the 400, leading the way through nearly 300 meters. However, Claire Melvin '22 took over to win in 62.65 and Kristen Frombach '19 passed Taylor for second on the home stretch, edging her out 63.24 to 63.72.
Michelle Menkiti '20 was the one double winner for the varsity, claiming first place in the 60 in 8.00 and in the 200 in 26.54. The junior also led off in the 4x200 Relay, giving her teammates (Andree, Sarah Ishamuddin '21 and Melvin) a lead they did not relinquish in running 1:50.11. The final score was Varsity 73, Alumnae 47.
Also competing for the alumnae were Stephanie Birkhimer '14 (60, Long Jump, Shot Put), Julia Sharpe '09 (High Jump), Jen Tylock '17 (Pole Vault), Emily Cole '09 (Pole Vault), Christine Labaza '14 (Shot Put).
The Alumni did not have the numbers to pull out of victory, but they certainly brought heart. The "Has-Beens" pulled out three victories in the meet. The best by far was Jared Forman's '13 shocker in the 800. Forman's MIT personal best for the indoor 800 was 1:55.77, which was run on a banked track. When Aiden Foucault-Etheridge went screaming out in 56.5 and Forman was hanging back in a safe 58, it did not seem likely he might win. However, Foucault-Etheridge paid for his high energy expenditure in the early part of the race, slowing to a 32.5 final 200 while Forman drove home to victory in 1:57.85, inspiring his teammates. Foucault-Etheridge finished in second in 1:59.01 and Ellery Rajagopal '21 ran an indoor PR of 1:59.51.
Chris Sweeney '18, only out a year, has not lost much in the high hurdles. Although Joa Kennedy '21 talked a good game, Sweeney pulled away easily, winning 8.52 to 8.89. Getting third was Nick Leonard '11 running 10.19.
The final alumni victory was earned by Arinze Okeke '16, who led an "old guy" sweep, jumping 45-04 1/2 in the Triple Jump. With Yorai Shaoul '21 not jumping, the Varsity had no entries in the event. Sweeney and Kyle Hannon '13 added their names to the event (not necessarily their skills since neither had ever done the event) at the last minute to place second (33-08) and third (33-01).
Tyler Singer-Clark '14 placed second in the 60 (7.51) and third in the 200 (24.34) to earn his team four points. Also competing in the 60 and 200 were Hannon, Leonard, David Blau '06 and Matt Barron '13. Winning the 60 was Alex Liu '22, running 7.31.
Danny Newman '17 earned a second for the Alumni in the 400, running 53.85 to close out the scoring for the alums in the running events. Claiming first in the 200 and 400 was Nick Duchatellier '22, running 24.12 and 52.88 respectively.
Matthew Kearney '22 won the Mile in 4:27.71, leading from start to finish, slightly negative splitting the race. Jake Jorgensen '21 was a solid second in 4:30.07. Competing for the Alumni were Nicholas Waltman '18 and Kimathi Foster '98.
Andrew Mah '22 negative split the 5K to win in 15:41.31. With no one willing to take the lead, Mah moved to the front despite the 39 second first 200. Mah, just coming off a buildup to base mileage, ran a conservative first mile of 5:14 and then ran a solid 4:56, finishing with a 4:53 although he did struggle over the final 600 meters. Finn Jacobson-Schulte '21 had a breakthrough, claiming second with a 16:03.42. Competing for the Alumni were Rory Beyer '17 and Roy Wedge '14.
Jon Fakkema '19 was the other double winner for the Varsity, taking first place in both the Shot Put and the Weight Throw. Fakkema took the Shot Put with a solid 46-03 1/4 effort. Cody Bratten '18 represented the Alums with a second place 43-00 1/4 performance. Also competing for the Alums was Matt Falk '12. Fakkema's primary event, the Weight Throw was challenged a bit by teammate Albert Menio '20, who threw a strong 49-02 1/2. Fakkema threw 52-03 3/4. Ryan Nall '22 earned a Varsity sweep with his 43-06 1/2.
Shaoul won the Long Jump with a mammoth indoor personal best of 22-05 from a short approach. Okeke took second place with 21-01 1/2. Thad Wozniak '06 just missed scoring, taking fourth at 18-06.
Only Nate Sharpe '09 prevented a Varsity sweep in the Pole Vault. Liam Ackermann '21 won by clearing 14-07 1/4, the same height as second place Scott Cameron '19. Sharpe cleared 13-05 1/4, tying Everett Brandyberry '21 for third. Also competing for the Alumni were Marshall Wentworth '16, Dan Kwon '02 and Than Bogan '93.
The Varsity earned another sweep in the High Jump. Alec Reduker '20 won with a jump of 6-04. Steven Speck '20 cleared 6-02 for second and Sope Eweje '20 took third at 6-00. Falk and Bogan competed for the Alumni. The final score was Varsity 87.5, Alumni 33.5.
Those Alums in attendance offering support were Javit Drake '94, Josh Duncavage '13, Harrison Hunter '15, Eric Khatchadourian '06, Maggie Lloyd '12, Elaine McVay '16, Ryan Prinster '18, Henry Tareque '17, Tom Washington '92, Benji Xie '15 and Nicole Zeinstra '16.
MIT's next competition will be a home contest versus Division III rivals, Bates College and Colby College on January 12.
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