ORJI AND ANDERSON LEAD THE WAY AGAINST MAINE SCHOOLS AND 21-1 FINAL RECORD

April 16, 2005

Brian Anderson is back for his final season of eligibility after nearly a year away from running caused by an injury to his hamstring and glute, and Uzoma Orji picked up right where he left off - winning. On a perfect spring day that saw temperatures near 70, sunny skies and a slight wind that picked up as the meet progressed, MIT took advantage, scoring 283 1/2 points to 203 for Bates, 131 for Colby and 59 1/2 for Southern Maine.

Bates College proved to be the perfect hosts as they allowed a tardy MIT team to join the hammer throw, an event already in progress and delayed the pole vault, long jump and high jump by half an hour to allow the Engineers an opportunity to properly warmup. In addition, their best athlete was in a non-scoring decathlon and others were not in their best events as they tried to maneuver people around to prepare for their upcoming championships.

Not wanting to waste the opportunity given them, Orji and David Saylor responded with a winning throw of 179-11 and a personal best of 168-6 for third place respectively. Orji nearly threw a personal best in winning the discus with a throw of 153-0 and just fouled on a 56 foot throw in the shot put, which he easily won with a 54-2 1/2 effort.

Leading the way on the track with two of the team's 11 total victories, Anderson finished hard over the final 300 meters into the wind to run 3:58.08, a sign he is nearly back to his All America form from the past. Anderson put an exclamation point on this a little over 30 minutes later with a come from behind 1:56.74 800 victory. Lending support in both of these events, Fivos Constantinou ran 4:00.94 in the 1500 for third place and added a fourth in the 800 with a 2:00.69 time. Also of note, in the 1500, John Brewer showed he was almost back from his stress fracture as he qualified for the New England Division III Championship with a 4:04.50 fourth place performance. Carlos Renjifo added a fifth place in 4:05.50.

Omari Stephens continued his winning trend in the high hurdles, this time running 16.56 into the wind. Stephens also claimed a personal best with a 13-0 pole vault to qualify him for the NE Div. III Championship in three weeks.

Zach Traina had a terrible start in the 100 but made up for it with a victory in the 200 over Xavier Garcia, one of the top 400 runners in the country. The time of 22.57 was an indication how much the headwind had picked up by the end of the meet. David Blau lended support in both sprints with a season best of 11.18 in the 100 for second place and a 22.95 in the 200 for fourth place.

Other victories in the field events were supplied by; Makinde Adeagbo, who jumped to an outdoor best in the triple jump of 43-2 1/4 for the victory, Nate Ball, who returned from a slight hamstring pull with a 15-0 pole vault victory and Nestor Hernandez, who leapt to a 21-4 3/4 victory in the long jump.

On the track, Ben Schmeckpeper added a steeplechase victory in 9:36.14. Support was given by Chris Bruce in his steeplechase debut, returning after a long sabbatical from a calf injury to run 10:11.81 for third place to narrowly qualify for the NE Div III Championship. Also running well, Kevin DiGenova nearly ran a personal best with his 10:38.69, which was good for sixth place.

Two other events of note, the 5000 and 1600 relay produced outstanding performances for this time in the season. Kevin Brulois and Chris Wong ran season bests of 15:38.45 and 15:38.78 respectively to place third and fourth in the quality field. Traina, Anderson, Jesse Collins and Kenny Rosche combined to run 3:23.96 in the relay, a time no where near what they should do later, but a great time given the short rest in the meet and how early it is in the season.

Placing second among 18 teams at UCSD, winning the Engineer's Cup and this meet gives MIT an outstanding record of 21-1 for the season. The team is anxiously waiting for the championships as they begin to peak in their respective events.

Next week, the Engineers are at home in a non-scoring invitational where they hope to sharpen their performances and rest up for the NEWMAC Conference Championship the week after.

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