MIT EARNS THREE VICTORIES AT HUSKY INVITATIONAL
April 17, 2004
MIT Men's Track and Field team enjoyed their first good weather since they were on their spring trip in Florida and wasted little time taking advantage of it Nate Ball, Eric Khatchadourian and Uzoma Orji claimed victories at the Northeastern University Solomon Husky Invitational on a sunny seventy degree day.
Khatchadourian and Kevin Brulois started the meet off with the 10,000 meters. Both were just hoping to qualify for the New England Division III Championships in two weeks. However, both ran excellent races for their 10K debuts. Khatchadourian pulled away from Brulois after 4 1/2 miles, running 5:05 for the final mile, finishing with a time of 32:24.63. Brulois fell back a bit but still held on for second place in 32:55.21.
Nate Ball cleared 15-6 1/4 and narrowly missed 15-10 1/4 to win the pole vault. Supporting Ball were teammates Josh Chartier and Nestor Hernandez, tying for sixth place at 13-3 1/2. Hernandez returned from his hamstring injury last week in the vault, but this week added the long jump, leaping 20-3 3/4 on a limited approach
Uzoma Orji had a pretty good day in the throwing events as he faced his best competition of the season. Orji began the day with the hammer throw. Orji threw 166-9 to claim fourth place overall and first among college participants. In the discus throw, Orji threw 145-10 despite a tailwind to claim second place. Finally, Orji threw in his specialty. Despite four hours of throwing, Orji still managed to throw 53-7 1/2 to win the event as he worked on a flaw in his technique. Orji's distance may suffer in the short term while he works on his right foot pivot and leg drive, but the long term gains should make the change worthwhile.
Brian Anderson made his outdoor season debut as he attempts to comeback for a hamstring injury that hampered him at the end of the indoor season. Running the 800, Anderson took the lead after 250 meters and kept it as he pulled away to a 1:58.92 effort in the second section of the event.
Another debut was turned in by Makinde Adeagbo in the triple jump. Adeagbo missed the entire indoor season as he strengthened his quadriceps to rehabilitate a knee injury he had from high school. Without having jumped in a year, Adeagbo struggled to find his form, but managed 40-7.
Not enjoying the tailwind they had last week, the sprinters nevertheless held their own. Zach Traina led the way with times of 11.16 in the 100 and 22.18 in the 200 to place fifth and second respectively. Traina, along with Marcus Carson, Jonathan Hsieh and David Blau teamed up to run 43.57 and place second in the 400 relay.
In addition to the 10K runners, the steeplechase and 5000 runners put forth their own personal bests. Carlos Renjifo led the way for personal bests for the 3000 steeplechase with his 9:56.36. Freshman, Robby Bryant, continued to knock about 10 seconds off per week, running 10:03.89. Kevin DiGenova, another freshman, dropped over 20 second from his time, finishing in 10:32.13. Chris Fidkowski ran the 5000 for the first time, breaking 16:00 with his 15:56.22. Fidkowski finished with a 33 final 200, indicating he had more left than he should have.
Many others had personal bests as MIT prepares for next week's NEWMAC Conference championship at Springfield College. In the high hurdles, Thad Wozniak and Marcus Carson both had PRs, running 16.44 and 16.59 respectively. Jesse Collins ran a well paced 400 and set a personal best in the process of 51.37. Steve Kannan turned in his own personal best with a 61.18 in the 400IH.
Next Saturday, MIT hopes to defend its title in the NEWMAC championship despite the extreme lack of depth in the throws, jumps and hurdles.