MIT FINISHES REGULAR SEASON UNDEFEATED
Meet Highlighted by Three Freshman Records
April 14, 2007
The unusually cool and windy weather continued in the Northeast and MIT's track was not excluded from the brisk 50 degree temperatures. The Engineers endured the conditions and put up some truly remarkable marks including three freshman records en route to a convincing victory with 262 points over Bates College (191), Colby College (91), University of Southern Maine (85) and Colby-Sawyer College (43). The scoring system used for the five way meet was 9-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 for the individual events and 9-7-6-5 for the relays.
Freshman sensation, Stephen Morton had a career day, setting two freshman records, winning three events, getting second in another and anchored the winning 4x100 relay team. Morton began his day with the long jump and despite his difficulty in finding the board he still managed a 22-8 season best victory. Before he began the triple jump he anchored the relay with a leg where he pulled away from the other anchor legs for the duration of the 100 meters. Coming over to the triple, Morton could not quite put all three phases together, finishing second based on second best jumps as he tied with teammate Anthony Teixeira for best jump at 43-6. During the triple jump Morton took a break and took first place honors in a freshman record of 10.88, eclipsing Zach Traina's record from 2002. After the triple jump, Morton got ready for the 200. Despite the drop in temperature as the clouds set in, Morton ran to another freshman record of 21.91, again taking away a record held by Traina from 2002. Morton's point total was 36 1/4 points for the day.
Tech's next highest point scorer was Teixeira, who garnered two firsts, one second and ran the third leg on the winning 4x100 relay. Despite hitting quite a few hurdles, Teixeira out leaned teammate Omari Stephens for a personal best 15.53. In the long jump, Teixeira had a season best 21-3 1/4 for second place. In the 4x100, even though he got out very late in the acceleration zone, once he received the baton he quickly outdistanced the field to give Morton a comfortable lead.
The Engineers won five other events for a total of 10 event victories of the 19 competed. Earning the other freshman record was Liam Fedus. After a great start to the indoor season, Fedus had to watch the rest of the season from the sideline with a foot injury. Back in shape and ready to race, Fedus ran a very well paced race to cross the line in 50.07 despite the strong winds to take down former national champion, Mark Dunzo's record of 50.13. Fedus also ran the opening leg on the 4x100 and a 23.37 200 good for fifth place.
Another freshman, Bill Phipps, took control of the 800 over the final 200 meters to run away with a 1:58.14 personal best victory. Phipps also ran a 52.9 leg on the 4x400 relay that earned third place. The final freshman victory was earned by Greg Tao, who cleared 14-2 3/4 for the victory. Tao had good attempts at 14-9, showing there is much more to come as the team heads into the championships in two weeks.
Sophomore shot putter, James Oleinik had a strong series of throws as four of them would have won the event. His 48-11 was a personal best. Oleinik also earned scoring places in the hammer with a fifth place and the discus with a sixth place.
The final victory of the day was earned by senior Eric Khatchadourian. Taking the lead after 800 meters, Khatch ran an aggressive race given the strong winds, coming through both the first two miles in 4:56 and then adding a 4:54 final mile before sprinting home, covering the final 200 meters in 34 seconds for the 15:10.4 victory.
MIT claimed five of the eight places in three events, long jump, triple jump and 5000 meters, scoring 26, 27 and 25 points respectively in the three events. The only event in which the Engineers did not score was in the javelin, an event in which they did not have an entry.
Next Saturday, MIT plays host to 15 men's and women's teams at the MIT Spring Invitational.