MIT Athletes Take Advantage of Spring Trip Meets
March 31, 2017
As is the case every outdoor season, the MIT Men and Women’s Track and Field teams traveled out of the snow and cold of New England in search of warm weather and great performances to begin the 2017 outdoor campaign. Unlike recent years when MIT’s cohort of sprinters, jumpers, vaulters, and throwers have traveled to Los Angeles to train at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, this year’s group traveled to San Antonio, Texas and was hosted by Head Men’s and Women’s Track and Field Coach Marcus Whitehead and his Trinity University teams. The weather was outstanding for the week, hitting the mid to upper 80’s every day, and afforded Tech the opportunity to compete at a high level and get the outdoor season off to a fast start. Following a successful week of training, the entirety of the Spring Trip squad competed at the Trinity Tiger Invite hosted on Friday. For the throwers, however, their outdoor season began on Thursday at the Texas State Bobcat Invitational, competing in the Discus for the first time outdoors.
At the Bobcat Invitational, the stage was set for the throwers to begin the season with a bang and get the Tech squads rolling into the weekend. Although the weather was perfect and the facilities and competition of mostly DI and DII athletes were fantastic, the meet officiating was far from it. In a Discus competition that saw seven flights of competitors take seven hours to complete, the MIT throwers would have their focus tested. That being said, they certainly stepped up to the challenge. The women competed first and were led by senior captain Jackie Vahey. From the third flight, Vahey ’17 was able to put together a throw of 132-06, a solid opener to her outdoor season in her signature event. After being told she did not qualify, but then realizing that they had only allowed six competitors to move on to the finals, the meet officials granted Vahey ’17 the finals throws that she earned. Although she did not throw farther, she was able to place 7th in a competitive field of athletes. Both Ari Slutsky ’18 and Felusho Jebutu ’20 also competed, throwing 112-01 and 102-00, respectively.
On the Men’s side, the trio of Albert Menio ’20, Jon Fakkema ’19, and Cody Bratten ’18 looked to keep the momentum going. Menio ’20 and Fakkema ’19 performed well, marking throws of 125-06 and 127-10, respectively, but had throws significantly farther that were not marked due to a 43.00m minimum mark standard set by the meet officials. Highlighting the throwers’ excellent start was Cody Bratten ’18. Bratten, a Discus specialist, came out firing, not only placing 5th in a talented field of competitors, but also improving his lifetime best by over a meter. Bratten ’18 unleashed a bomb of 160-08, placing him 5th all-time in MIT history and 5th in all of NCAA DIII so far this year. His distance would have qualified him for the outdoor championships in last year’s field and could quite possibly do so this season.
Next up, the full compliment of MIT technical athletes looked to build off of the tremendous start engineered by the throws crew. In what was easily the most beautiful day of the week, Tech looked to make a statement at the Trinity Tiger Invite. Once again, the throwers took it upon themselves to lead the way. In the first event of the day, the women’s throwers took to the Hammer circle. Captain, Jackie Vahey ’17 demonstrated Tech’s dominance by winning in convincing fashion. Vahey’s throw of 173-02 was a huge personal best, is currently 4th in the country, and stands as the 2nd best mark in MIT history. In addition, Ari Slutsky ’18 launched a personal best throw of 162-11, which is currently 9th in the country and 5th all-time at MIT. In the men’s hammer throw, Fakkema ’19 put on a show of his own, tossing a personal best of 152-10 on his way to another Tech victory. Menio ’20 also placed 7th in the event, with a throw of 125-01.
In the Discus, Vahey ’17 came up with another great showing, improving upon her performance from the day before by throwing 138-01 for 3rd place. Slutsky ’18 kept pace, improving her previous day’s performance by over 5m, finishing 4th with a throw of 131-01. On the men’s side, Bratten ’18 didn’t quite have the stellar performance of a day earlier, but finished 2nd with a solid throw of 153-04, right around his personal best of a season ago. Fakkema ’19, however, made the most of his second opportunity and threw a big lifetime best of 144-08, earning him 4th place.
On the Long Jump runway, the jumps crew looked to keep Tech rolling. Following up her All-America campaign from the indoor season, Nneoma Okonkwo ’18 did not disappoint, dominating the field and winning the event with a leap of 19-00 ¾, giving Tech its third event win on the day. Okonkwo’s jump currently ranks her 2nd in NCAA DIII. Jumpers Haley Strouf ’18 and Natalie Alper ’17 both posted strong performances as well, jumping 17-10 ¾ and 16-11 ¼, placing them 3rd and 8th respectively. On the men’s side, Tech competed without the talents of All-Americans Billy Ruschel ’18 and Arinze Okeke ’17, but had others step up in the process, resulting in three season’s best performances. Specifically, Jason Villanueva ’18 set a new personal best leap of 20-07 ¾ on his way to an 8th place finish.
While the horizontal jumpers were having fun in the Trinity sand pits, the Women’s Pole Vaulters owned the runway and placed 6 in the top 7 spots of the competition. Kari Stromhaug ’19 posted the best performance of the evening, vaulting 12-03 ½ on her way to victory. Stromhaug’s season opener stands as the 4th best performance in MIT history, is currently 5th in the country, and may be enough to qualify her for the outdoor championship in May. Sophomore, Kathleen Brandes also posted a personal best performance, vaulting 11-05 ¾ on her way to 2nd place.
On the track, the MIT women’s 4x100m relay was poised to clock a fast time in the warm San Antonio weather. Unfortunately, the relay comprised of junior captain Hannah Chen, Michelle Menkiti ’20, Gabriella Zak ’20, and Nneoma Okonkwo ’18, was doomed from the start. As Chen ’18 burst out of the blocks and was approaching the first baton exchange, Menkiti ’20 left much too early as she mistakenly was watching Trinity University’s first leg enter the exchange zone. As a result, Chen was unable to pass the baton within the exchange zone, disqualifying the Tech relay team. The disappointment did not last long, however, as Chen ‘18 quickly turned things around with her 100m hurdle performance. With a 2.1 m/s tailwind, Chen paced the field posting a personal best time of 15.01, .02 seconds faster than her previous best of a year ago.
Back to the throws circle, MIT’s throwers looked to wrap up an incredible weekend with a competitive showing in the Shot Put. Ari Slutsky ’18 led the way for the women’s squad, posting a season’s best throw of 40-07 ½, good enough for a 2nd place finish. On the men’s side, junior Cody Bratten continued his stellar weekend by posting yet another personal best, taking 2nd place in the process with a toss of 48-07 ½, which is currently 7th all-time at MIT. Fakkema ’19 and Menio ’20, once again performed well, throwing 44-04 ¾ and 40-00 1/2, respectively. Dana Balek ’18 rounded out the throws performances, competing well in the women’s javelin, throwing a solid 105-04 for 3rd place.
Meanwhile, on the track, Tech’s sprinters took to the starting blocks. In the women’s 400m race, Gabriella Zak ’20 got out to a fast start in the first 200m and although she struggled to hang on in the last 100m, posted a solid outdoor season opener of 60.36 for 3rd place. In the men’s race, senior Danny Newman began his final outdoor campaign clocking a 51.45 and taking 7th place in the process. In the 100m, junior Nneoma Okonkwo and freshman Michelle Menkiti battled poor starts to post times of 12.63 and 12.65, placing them 3rd and 5th, respectively. In what was the highlight of the evening on the track for MIT, Hannah Chen ’18 and Gabriella Zak ’20 tested their mettle in the 400m hurdles. In her collegiate debut, Zak ’20 got out well in the first 200m, but once again struggled to maintain pace in the second half of the race, ultimately finishing 3rd in a time of 65.58. Chen ’18, a two-time All-American in the event, ran an incredibly well-paced race, hitting her hurdles in stride and easily cruising in for her second victory of the evening in a time of 61.19. Chen’s performance was almost 4 seconds faster than the 2nd place finisher and currently places her atop the NCAA DIII list. To finish up the day on the track, Michelle Menkiti ’20 blazed a 25.48 in the women’s 200m for 3rd place and a performance that is now 5th all-time in MIT history. Menkiti’s time is now just .16 off the MIT freshman record held by multiple-time All-American, Portia Jones.
Back in the sand, Tech’s horizontal jumpers looked to make a statement in the Triple Jump. In the women’s competition, Jasmine Jin ’20 looked to make a breakthrough and build off her strong freshman indoor season. Battling fouling issues early on which saw two 37-38’ jumps erased from her series, Jin’s performance was promising yet disappointing as she was only able to manage a jump of 35-06 for 5th place. On the men’s side, Tech’s top performer Jason Villanueva ’18 built off of his earlier personal best in Long Jump with a huge leap and personal best of 46-06 in the Triple Jump. In addition, junior captain Ryan Prinster, who was returning from a hamstring injury, launched a solid short-approach performance of 44-02 for 4th place.
In the vertical jumps, men’s Pole Vault proved to be a bittersweet affair. Following disappointing no-height performances from Scott Cameron ’19 and Raja Rajcic ’20, Bobby Upton ‘20 stepped up his performance to an unprecedented level for a freshman vaulter. Upton ’20 proved to be too much for the rest of the field as he vaulted to victory with a height of 15-09 ¾, shattering the MIT freshman record formerly held by Pole Vault standout, Nate Ball. Upton went on to attempt 16-01 ¾, a height that would likely qualify him for the outdoor championships in May, but narrowly brushed the bar with his chest on his final attempt. In the women’s High Jump, senior captain Natalie Alper dominated the field on her way to another Tech event victory. Alper ’17 cleared both 5-01 and 5-03 on her first attempt, which proved enough for the win. Alper then attempted 5-5 ¼, clearing it on her second attempt and establishing a new outdoor personal best and MIT school record in the process. Alper then took solid attempts at 5-07, a national qualifying height, but was unable to clear. In Tech’s final event of the evening, men’s High Jump, freshman Chris Washington displayed true competitiveness and would not be denied the top spot. After clearing 6-00, 6-02, and 6-04, Washington ‘20 found himself on his final attempt at 6-06. After two other competitors failed on their final attempt, Washington stepped up to his starting mark, approached the bar with confidence, and sailed over the bar with ease for Tech’s 10th and final event victory of the evening. Washington finished his evening by brushing the bar with his left arm and narrowly missing 6-09 ½, a height that would likely qualify him for the NCAA outdoor championship.
In summary, this year’s Spring Trip resulted in numerous personal and season’s bests, 5 performances that are likely to qualify for the NCAA Outdoor Championships, an MIT school record, and an MIT freshman record. Next up, the Engineers of MIT will battle against the likes of Bates, Tufts and RPI in a scored quadrangular meet. Weather permitting; Bates College will host the competition in Lewiston, ME, which will be held on April 7th and 8th.
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