MIT MEN'S AND WOMEN'S TEAM REACH PODIUM, PLACING 4TH AND 3RD RESPECTIVELY AT NCAA DIVISION III CHAMPIONSHIP

May 27-29 , 2010

Day one of the NCAA Division III Championships, hosted by Baldwin Wallace College in Berea, Ohio, brought hot temperatures and hot performances from the MIT contingent. MIT ended the day with three school records, an individual long jump title and two additional personal bests. In addition, MIT was five for five in advancing from trials to Saturday's finals in the running events.

Vlad Sobes '11, started things off in the javelin throw. This was Sobes's first NCAA Championship. In fact, assuming he would not qualify, he took a job in Knoxville, TN that began early in the week. He flew in for the javelin and flew back to his job, all within 24 hours. While in Ohio, Sobes made the most of it. He had an excellent first throw, a new personal best of 200-9. This throw got him in the finals in seventh place. On his second throw in the finals, Sobes popped a 203-10 PR to move him to fourth place. However, in the final round he was passed twice, one by only one centimeter, to finish sixth, just 19 centimeters out of second. Not bad for coming in seeded 15th.

At the same time Karin Fisher '11, was busy in the pole vault. Despite having the poles arrive the morning of competition, one day late, and five of the men's and women's poles arriving broken, Fisher was all business. She borrowed the poles she needed and cleared 11-5, then 11-10 3/4, both on the first attempt. At 12-2 3/4, Fisher was unable to clear the new outdoor PR until her third and final attempt. This late clear put her in 10th place. She would need to clear the next height, 12-6 3/4 to place, but she was unable to do so. Nevertheless, seeded 14th and earning 10th place with a personal best was an excellent way to end her junior year.

First on the track for MIT was Jacqui Wentz '10, in the 1500. Wentz, seeded first, was in the first of two sections. The top four in each section along with the next four fastest times would advance to Saturday's final. The pace was pedestrian at best as no one wanted to take it out. Going through splits of 78 and 2:36, the pack finally picked up the pace to run a 70 third quarter and then finishing with a 50 final 300 as Wentz easily pulled away with 50 meters to go to win in 4:36.62.

Yermie Cohen '10, was next, running in the men's 1500. Completely opposite from what the women experienced, the pace went out in 60, 2:04 and 3:06 as Cohen took the lead with 500 to go. Seeded number one, Cohen showed it was valid as he won his heat and had the fastest qualifying time, running 3:50.74.

Next up for the Engineer's was Jamie Simmons '12, in the 400IH. Simmons, seeded fifth in the field, was in the first of three sections where the winners and next five fastest times would advance. Simmons got out pretty well, somewhat stuttered three of the ten hurdles, but none very badly and lost her balance twice due to over rotating her arms, but did nothing short of setting a stadium record and new MIT record as she not only won her heat but had the fastest overall time of 60.52.

Greg Tao '10, was up in the pole vault and the three time All America winner was hoping to add number four. Tao cleared 15-5 1/2 on his second attempt, but was unable to clear the money height of 15-11 1/4.

Back to the track, Portia Jones '12, was in the 200, her first of four different events, all with trials and potential finals over the three days. Running in the second of three heats and having the outside lane in a race where they were advancing heat winners and the next five fastest times, it was critical for Jones to get out well and run the turn hard. This she did to perfection, coming off the turn in second and holding it the rest of the way to run a new MIT record of 24.28. This time was fourth overall in the event and faster than anyone in the country had run in the regular season. It took a blazing 24.46 to make to the finals.

At this same time, Stephen Morton '10, was over at the long jump ready to exorcise the long jump demons and take care of unfinished business. After fouling out at the indoor championship this year and making finals last spring only to finish ninth, Morton needed to get a fair jump in, which he did on four of his six jumps, all over seven meters. On his second jump, Morton landed a jump of 23-9 putting him in first after the trials. With virtually no wind, this mark held up through the finals, giving Morton his first national title.

In the 4x400 trials, MIT, seeded third, was the fastest seed in the third of three heats. With two teams from each heat advancing plus the next two fastest times, MIT just needed to be sure to stay out of trouble. Simmons led things off with a marvelous 55.9 leg to put MIT in the lead. Martha Gross '12, ready to run fast, ran 57.2 and had plenty left as she brought the baton in just behind the lead team. An excellent handoff sent Wentz into the lead. She proceeded to lose the lead, settle and race instead of running her best time until she realized she had a lot left. Pulling ahead at the end of the home stretch, Wentz ran a 58.2 as she handed off to Jones. Jones wanted to get separation and certainly did as she raced through the first 200 in 25 flat. With a 25 meter lead, Jones allowed the fatigue to creep in as she slowed to finish in 56.2 for a new MIT record of 3:47.74, which proved to be the second fastest time in the competition.

The final event of the day for MIT was the women's 10K. Alina Gatowski '11, the 16th seed out of 18 runners was never in the race, choosing to run in the back. Gatowski was never engaged in the race, showing a lack of confidence very unlike what she has demonstrated this year. Her 38:45.42 was more than two and half minutes off the mark that got her here.

At the end of the day, the men were in third place with 13 points. The women scored no points, but put themselves in good position to score well on Saturday.

Day two opened with Jones in the 100HH, an event she entered as the seventh seed with a 14.43 best time. With a great start and excellent sprinting between the hurdles, Jones finished second in her heat, and second overall, with a new MIT record of 14.07 performance.

Jones was back 40 minutes later in the 400, her best event by seed as she was the number three seed in the field. However, it was clear as soon as the gun went off that she was not mentally in the race. Jones went through the motions, finishing last in her heat with a 57.66.

Next up for Tech was the great Jacqui Wentz in the 3000 steeplechase. This was perhaps the most anticipated event of the day as nearly everyone in the know wanted to see what Wentz would do. What she did was follow the plan of letting someone else lead the race through the first four and a half laps and then pull away with 1200 to go. Running 83 second pace as an average through the 1600, Wentz dropped two 81 second quarters and then finished with a 38 last 200 to run an incredible 10:16.16, winning by 14 seconds, which not only was the fastest time in Division III this year, but also made the B standard for the USATF meet and is only four seconds away from the A standard. Needless to say this was a new MIT record.

The final day of competition began with the triple jump for MIT. Morton had not had a really good triple since indoor nationals. Competing in the second flight with four jumpers in the first flight already over 48-5, Morton made his first jump count, jumping 48-0 to make it into the finals, which included the top nine jumpers from the trials. In the final three rounds, Morton was able to move up to third with an outstanding jump of 49-3. Now that he was in contention and starting to feel it, Morton really brought it on his final attempt, blasting one well over 50'....but he fouled by about one inch. Not seeded to score, third place was pretty remarkable.

On the track Wentz was back in the 1500 final. Starting in the back and moving up to second place at the end of the 800, it looked as though Wentz was ready to go, but then she seemed to give into the fatigue and not able to respond to the pace picking up. Eventually she fought in the final 100 to earn fifth place in 4:28.91. A slight chink in her armor or was Wentz really fatigued and too tired to come back in the 4x400?

Cohen was next up on the men's side of the 1500. The pace for the race was crisp, but not too fast. Cohen moved up to second and sat on quarter splits of 62 and 2:07. During the next 400 meters Cohen was preparing to make his move and with just over 300 meters to go he took off. Coming through the 1200 in 3:08, Cohen sped up, opening up a five meter lead with 120 to go, but was passed in the final 100 even though he ran the final 300 in 42 seconds. However, he earned second place in 3:50.72 to give the men a final total of 27 points. Not bad after only being seeded to score 10 points in this championship.

The 100HH final was next and Jones was ready to go. A great start was followed by four excellent hurdles as Jones was in the lead and looking great. Then she again hit a hurdle with her lead leg, but recovered quickly to still be in a battle for second as she got over the next hurdle clean. However, she then really hit the next hurdle and nearly fell. Her determination held her up enough to finish fifth in 14.29. Even though this was Jones's second fastest time ever, she was obviously disappointed. The great breaks MIT had started the meet with were starting to go the other way.

A little later Simmons was up in the 400IH final where she was determined to gain a victory. Simmons was running super through six hurdles and seemed ready to deliver the win but suddenly did not seem to have enough energy to pull away. Instead, she actually fell back to about sixth place before rallying in the final 100 to pull away for a second place finish in 61.01 and a much needed eight points. At this point MIT had 26 points and was around fifth place in the team standings.

Jones was up next and a little worried about her leg, which started bothering her after the hurdles. She shook that off and delivered in the 200 final, running 24.28, again, finishing sixth to give MIT 29 points.

After the 5000 and triple jump, with only one event remaining, MIT was in sixth, two points behind Williams, who also had a team in the 4x400 relay. With Wentz, Simmons and Jones showing a little fatigue, it was time to have a talk and see just how badly they wanted to be one of the top four teams in the meet, all of whom receive a team trophy. Talk is cheap, so the ladies went out and showed how much difference a determined attitude can make. Simmons led off with a 56.1 to put MIT in second place. Gross ran the best leg of her young life, dropping a 56.4 to keep MIT in second. Wentz, not to be outdone, delivered her own personal best, a 57.7 leg to put MIT a close third. Jones got the baton and wasted no time in moving the team into second and setting her sites on Wartburg, one of the teams only three points behind MIT in the team standing and 20 meters in front of her in this race. Jones ran an amazing 54.1 to close within 1.14 seconds and give MIT a second place in 3:44.49 and third place overall with 37 points, their highest finish ever in an NCAA Track and Field Championship.

The men's 27 points held on for fourth place overall, also earning a spot on the podium for the first time ever in outdoor history. In addition to this and the 13 All America awards taken away by MIT, Stephen Morton was named the NCAA Field Event Male Athlete of the Meet.

A remarkable season ending with a remarkable NCAA Championship. What will 2011 bring?

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