TECH TRACK PERFORMS WELL TO EARN THIRD PLACE IN NEW ENGLAND DIVISION III CHAMPIONSHIP
May 1, 2004
MIT's struggles during the regular season due to a lack of depth were relieved last week with the NEWMAC Championship victory, but this week they were put to rest as the Engineers took advantage of the few entries they had and scored 68 points to place third in the New England Division III Championship behind Williams College and Bates College.
Thad Wozniak began the championship with the decathlon on Thursday. Wozniak figured he should finish at least fifth and hoped to finish fourth. After the first day's events (100, long jump, shot put, high jump and 400) he was in third place with five great marks, two of them personal bests. His 100 was 11.47 and his 400 a perfectly run 51.73. The second day was not as strong a day for Wozniak and one of the athletes he was ahead of was a strong pole vaulter. Wozniak started the day with a 16.33 PR in the 110HH. He held his own with a 90' discus throw but lost a lot of points in the pole vault, only clearing 9' 3. Fortunately, the athlete just ahead of him performed even worse in the vault, leaving him 161 points ahead of Wozniak. Now in fourth, Wozniak came through with a javelin throw of 143-0, enough to move him into third by 17 points. In the final event, the 1500, Wozniak was too far out of second to try to make up the difference, so his goal was to be sure to not let fourth place overtake him by more than one second and fifth place not more than eight seconds. The plan was on the rocks at first as the fourth place runner went out in 72 seconds. Fortunately, the pace slowed significantly and he was able to achieve his goal and then some, scoring 5595 points for third place, more than 1000 points over his previous mark from the year before.
Saturday began with the 10K. An event where MIT was seeded first and third, although some of the good entrants had not performed an all out 10K at that point. The hot weather (75 degrees) and sunny skies made some cautious with the pace. Eric Khatchadourian, impatient with the slow pace, ran the way he felt and took over the lead. After two miles it was obvious that today would not be a good day for the MIT contingent in this event as both Khatchadourian and Kevin Brulois began to fade just before three miles. Khatchadourian held on for firth place but the four points were not what MIT was hoping for.
Just as the 10K was finishing, the hammer throw got underway. Uzoma Orji, seeded second, did not have enough to get the job done on this day. Orji had a good, consistent series but was unable to hit the big throw. His 168-1 effort placed 5th. Right after the hammer, Orji stepped into the discus ring and the snow ball kept rolling downhill. Although he looked good in the warmups, Orji was unable to put it together in his actual throws. He made the finals but was unable to place.
On the track, Zach Traina ran the 100 and 200 trials back to back and managed to make the finals in both events. He then stepped into the lead off position in the 400 relay and blazed an opening leg to put MIT in a strong second place coming out of the turn. Marcus Carson ran his strongest leg of the season and held his position. Jonathan Hsieh grabbed the baton with MIT fighting for second with three other teams but by the time the handoff was made to David Blau, MIT had a solid hold on second place and Blau only expanded that lead as they finished in a season best 43.13.
In the 3000 steeplechase, MIT had four entries. Led by Ben Schmeckpeper, Carlos Renjifo and Chris Fidkowski hoped to finish in the top eight, all scoring points for Tech. Robby Bryant was also hoping to sneak into scoring position but the experience at the championships for the freshmen was the most important value to be gained for him on this day. The early pace was fast and Schmeckpeper went out quickly in 72 seconds. Fidkowski and Renjifo were also out fast, coming through in 74 seconds. Schmeckpeper slowed after a first mile in 4:58 but held on for a third place finish. Fidkowski, a rookie graduate student, ran a 17 second PR, placing fourth in 9:42.02. Renjifo tired early in the race and was unable to attack the leaders, finishing in seventh in a PR of 9:55.03, good for two key points.
John Brewer, seeded 21st in the 1500, wanted to do his part for the team as well. Running in the first of two sections, Brewer ran a poor tactical race but made up for it with a lot of fortitude as he won his section in a season best of 4:02.89. Unfortunately, his great effort just missed scoring as he finished in ninth place overall.
Next for MIT, Traina was back on the track in the 100. Not running his best race, Traina caught people at the end and finished a very respectable fourth place, good for five points. In his favorite event, the 200, Traina ran a technically perfect race, placing a strong second in 21.87.
There was no way Orji was going to do anything but win the shot put. While he did not have his best effort, he nevertheless won with a fine throw of 55-1 to keep MIT in the running for one of the three trophies.
The final event for MIT was the pole vault. Williams had first place in the meet locked up. Bates, Springfield College, MIT and Tufts University were all battling for second place. With the vault and 1600 relay to go, MIT had 58 points, Springfield had 57.5, Bates had 54 and Tufts 51. MIT had no entry in the 1600 relay so they needed to do all their scoring in the vault. Nestor Hernandez did his part by clearing a personal best 14-0 1/2 despite a cramping hamstring, good enough to place 7th. The Tufts vaulter placed 5th to move them up to 55 points. As the vault came down to the final two, Nate Ball of MIT and Matt Ondra of Bates, the 1600 relay was starting. Williams ran a very courageous anchor leg to just inch out Springfield and give them 65.5 points. Bates ran a superb relay to place third and move them to 60 points. Tufts finished fifth, which gave them a final point total of 59 points. MIT had a guarantee of second place in the vault and this would give them enough points for third place overall. However, if Ball could pull out the victory over the favored Bates vaulter, MIT would finish second. However, even though Ball cleared 15-6 1/2, he missed at a PR attempt at 16' while the Bates vaulter made it on his first attempt.
MIT has certainly turned their season around. Next week, they take their game to Northeastern University for the All New England Championship on Friday and Saturday.