January 29, 2000

MIT Men's Track and Field team traveled to New London, Connecticut to the home of the Coast Guard Academy for Quad Cup III to face a rematch with Bates College along with Westfield State, and WPI. Going into the meet undefeated, but without top scorer Rick Rajter '03, who has been scoring over 20 points per meet, MIT was unsure of victory, particularly if Bates put up a fight similar to the one two weeks ago.

Fellow freshman, Craig Mielcarz, achieved 3 season bests to help lead Tech to a surprisingly easy victory with MIT scoring 241 1/4 points to Bates' 143 1/4, Coast Guard's 124, Westfield State's 80 1/4, and WPI's 5 1/4. In setting his season bests, Mielcarz won both the Long Jump with 21-0, and the High Jump with a leap of 6-7. His third PR occurred in the 55HH where he ran 8.35 to earn 4th place. Mielcarz added an 8th place in the Shot Put for good measure to finish with 24 points for the day. Mielcarz's winning long jump came on his final jump to move him up from 3rd in dramatic fashion. In the High Jump, he came right over from his hurdle race and popped a 6-4 leap. At 6-7, Mielcarz cleared it on his first attempt with plenty of room to spare.

The other multiple winner was Sean Montgomery '01, who won both the mile (4:22.06), and the 1000 Meter run (2:32.79). Montgomery ran a sit and kick race in the mile, which proved very effective for both him and Dan Feldman '02, who went with him to finish 2nd in 4:22.30. In the 1000, Montgomery was running against a very good runner from Bates who owned the best time in New England in the 1000 with a 2:33.59, and was fresh going into the race. After coming through the 400 in a respectable 60 seconds, Montgomery pulled away, surprising the competition. Montgomery was able to cruise in to the finish uncontested in 2:32.79.

Other winners were Kalpak Kothari '01, in the Triple Jump, Tony Pelosi '01, in the 600, and freshman Sean Nolan in the 5000. Kothari did not have a spectacular day in the Triple Jump, but neither did anyone else. Kothari was consistently over 40' but was not able to do better than 40-9 3/4. Pelosi decided that the best way to run a fast 600 would be to dictate the pace of the race, which he did from start to finish in 1:27.42. Nolan became the 3rd fastest freshman in MIT history in the 5K with a time of 15:24.37. Running behind a freshman from Coast Guard, who had beat him all season in Cross Country, Nolan took the lead once the pace slowed just after 2 miles. Nolan ran his last mile under 4:50 and finished with a 31 last 200, showing that there is more in the tank if he needs it.

Other notable season or personal bests were provided by many other Engineers. Dan Opila '03, vaulted 13-3 in the Pole Vault to lead a 2-3-4-5 finish. Robbie Gray '02, jumped 20-09 in the Long Jump to claim 2nd in addition to his 3rd place in the Triple Jump, and 6th place in the 55 Meter dash. Peter Bluvas '01, had a big day by setting a PR in the 55HH with a 8.31 3rd place performance. Peter also earned a 3rd in the Shot Put, an 8th in the Weight Throw, and ran a fine leg on the 1600 Relay. In addition to Feldman's Mile Run, he also earned 2nd in the 800 with a best of 2:01.25. Season bests were provided by Phil Loiselle '01, Craig Wildman '03, and Kenny Walker in the 1000 with times of 2:42.61, 2:44.99, and 2:46.44, but their times will drop significantly as the season comes to an end since Loiselle and Walker are just coming into form after early season injuries, and Wildman had just completed his first double. In the 5000, Ed Keehr '01, is getting back into shape and showed it with a 15:57.41. Albert Liu also ran a PR in the low 16s, but there was an error in the timing which is still being looked at.

Next week, the two best teams in New England Division III, both undefeated, will go at it in the final Quad Cup meet of the season when MIT travels to Tufts to see who will claim the title of Quad Cup Champion.