WOMEN FINISH REGULAR SEASON WITH WIN OVER BATES AND COLBY, MEN LET OPPORTUNITY SLIP AWAY

April 9, 2011

MIT Track and Field traveled to Lewiston, Maine on Saturday, hoping for good weather and wins over host Bates College as well as the visiting White Mules from Colby College. The men, missing nearly a third of their team due to a variety of reasons, including minor injuries and illness but also poor planning and personal choices that unfortunately put an undue burden on those left to compete, nevertheless, planned on a victory over the host Bobcats, Colby and the University of Southern Maine.

The weather cooperated, providing sunny skies and 58 degree temperatures, although there was a pretty strong cross wind for the horizontal jumps, it was in the face of the pole vaulters. The women's meet, with three teams, scored six places in each event with scoring going 7-5-4-3-2-1. The women responded with a resounding victory, scoring 188 points to 123 for Bates and 95 for Colby. The men, with four teams, scored eight places, 9-7-6-5-4-3-2-1. Despite the absences, nearly all of those who did compete did so valiantly and to the best of their ability on the men's team. Bates has a strong and competitive team that simply proved too much for Tech, winning the meet with 258 points to 241 for the Engineers. USM was third with 89 points and Colby trailed with 73.

The meet began with energy at the shot put circle and long jump pit. Ken Cooper '13, set a personal best with a throw of 50 feet 8 ¼ inches, which was good enough for fourth place behind three outstanding shot putters from Bates. Mitch Kelley '11, finishing in fifth, threw 49 feet 1 inch for a season best. In the Long Jump, Travis Hery '11, lead the competition with a personal best of 20 feet 8 inches, only falling to Bates in the final round of jumps. All three long jumpers finished with their lifetime bests – Nick Leonard '11, jumped 19 feet 6 ¼ inches with a third place finish, and his teammate, Jordan Mizerak '14, placed fourth with a distance of 18 feet 11 ¼ inches.

The first event on the track was the 3000 Meter Steeplechase. From the first lap, Paul Welle '11, took a commanding lead and never relinquished it. Stephen Serene '12, fell in behind Welle and ran in second place for much of the race but was passed by a Colby runner near the end, leaving him in third at the finish line. Welle finished with a time 9:26.14, and Serene ran 9:49.11.

Due to injuries, the men’s 4x100 relay ran with a skeleton crew of Jackson Wirekoh '13, Leonard, Tyler Singer-Clark '14, and Nathan Peterson '12. They showed great heart, running better than predicted and winning the race with a time of 44.02 due to excellent handoffs.

The 1500 meter race was next on the track. Falling fairly early in the race, Kyle Hannon '12, the top seed, did not reengage in the race and ended up at the back of the pack. The rest of the men stayed in a large pack, and then Justin Bullock '14, took the lead with 500 to go. Ben Mattocks '12, went with him, and though both of them raced hard until the end, they could not fight off Noah Graboys from Bates. Mattocks finished second with a time of 4:00.69, and Bullock finished third with a time of 4:00.82.

Stepping up in the next few races, Singer-Clark ran a strong 400 meter race finishing in second with a time of 50.27, and Nathan Peterson and Jackson Wirekoh jumped into the 100 to help out the team running 11.47 in the 100 for fourth place and 11.83 for ninth respectively. Coming back from a win in the steeplechase, Welle earned second place running 1:57.44 in the 800, directly followed by Justin Bullock at 1:57.75, who won the slow section. Jared Forman, after being sick for three weeks, showed a lot of heart by running a personal record of 1:58.50 and placing fifth. Many of the men competed in numerous events, earning much needed points for the team. Nick Leonard proved his dedication to the team finishing strong with a first place finish in the 400 intermediate hurdles, which was his fourth event of the day. In his third event of the day, Singer-Clark won the 200 meter dash in a personal best of 22.23. The three men who ran the 5000 meter race knew they needed to earn as many points as possible, and they ran very strategic and gutsy races. After running in a pack for the first two miles of the race, Roy Wedge '14, took a decisive lead. Dan Harper '12, and Dawit Zewdie '13, battled with one of the Bates runners for the last two laps, and truly earned their second and third place finishes, kicking to the end. All three ran qualifying times for the N.E. Division III Championship – Wedge ran 15:11.89, Zewdie ran 15:21.56, and Harper ran a 15:22.30.

The field event men pulled their weight earning multiple personal records and valuable points. With their best throws ever in the Discus Throw, C.K. Umachi '12, threw 152 feet and 4 inches for a fourth place finish and Ken Cooper '13, threw 151 feet and 1 inch for fifth. Mitch Kelley '11, won the event throwing 155 feet even. It may be the first time the men’s team has had three discus competitors throw over 150 feet in the same meet. Sealing the win from his very first jump, Jackson Wirekoh improved his seed position in the Triple Jump with a jump of 41 feet and 6 inches. In the High Jump, all the jumpers placed; Matt Falk '12, led the group with a first place finish and a jump of 6 feet 1 ¼ inches, while Umachi placed fifth with a mark of 5 feet 9 ¾ inches. Mizerak came back from the long jump and cleared 5 feet 8 inches for seventh place. Continuing his quest to become a decathlete, Leonard finished eighth with a leap of 5 feet 6 inches. Cyrus Vafadari '12, and Peterson both jumped 15 feet 1 ¼ inches in the Pole Vault. Vafadari placed second based on jumps, while Peterson placed third. Vlad Sobes '11, placed second in the Javelin with a throw of 186 feet and 5 inches, stopping in the middle of the competition due to a slight groin problem.

With only the Hammer Throw, and 4x400 relay left, it was clear the men could not secure a win, deciding to switch the line-up for the men’s 4x400 team, running D.J. Ronde, Justin Bullock, Paul Welle, and Gil O’Neil. The men ran a combined time of 3:30.55, which was good for fourth place. To conclude the meet, Ken Cooper put in a strong effort and finished first in the hammer with his third personal best of the day, a throw of 180 feet 6 inches. C.K. Umachi and Jeremy Sharpe placed fifth and seventh with distances of 155 feet 8 inches and 130 feet 1 inch, respectively. Although they could not pull off the win with only 31 competitors, the men showed they have the desire to persevere in the face of a tough battle.

The women, also working with a smaller team than usual, never had any doubts about the team victory and just focused on competing well. They started the day with the Triple Jump, where Karin Fisher '11, set a personal best with a leap of 34 feet 11 ¾ inches, earning second place. Jackie Brew '14, had a season best jump of 34 feet 9 1/2 inches for a third place finish.

The High jump was a strong event for the team; four of the women placed. Megan Bumgarner and Jackie Konopka, both freshmen, jumped 4 feet 9 ½ inches for third and fourth place, respectively, Chandler Schlupf '14, and Diana Zhu '13, went 4 feet 7 ¾ inches for fifth and sixth place finishes, respectively. Maggie Lloyd '12, showed fortitude by taking the early lead in the steeplechase, with Martina de Geus '14, following closely behind her. They were aware that Colby runner Emma Linhard, a seasoned national level middle-distance runner, would fight for a win, so they tried to keep a good distance from her. Unfortunately despite Linhard stumbling on each water jump, they could not fight her off in the end. Lloyd finished in second with a time of 11:20.88, and de Geus finished in fourth with a personal best of 11:24.78.

The next race on the track was the women’s 4x100. Despite poor handoffs at each exchange, Brew, Martha Gross '12, Jamie Simmons '12, and Portia Jones '12, were able to pull off the win with a time of 49.20.

In the 1500 meter race, Louise van den Heuvel '14, and Alina Gatowski '11, taking a day at the shorter distances, represented their team well with first and second place finishes and times of 4:48.00 and 4:53.33.

Portia Jones earned some major points for the team with first place finishes in the 100 hurdles with a time of 14.98, the 200 meter race with a time of 24.72, and broke her own varsity record in the 100 meters with a time of 12.36. Jackie Brew, competing in her fair share of events, brought in points with a fourth place finish in the hurdles with a personal best time of 15.36, a second place finish in the 100 meters with a time of 12.59, and a fifth place finish in the 200 meters with a time of 26.40. She also finished second in the long jump with a distance of 16 feet 6 inches.

Also competing in the high hurdles, Amy Magnuson 'G, placed second with a time of 15.16, while Haze Briner '11, captured sixth place with a time of 15.83.

Jamie Simmons and Martha Gross finished second and third, respectively, in the 400 meter race with times of 57.98 and 59.31. Simmons also came back to with the 400 intermediate hurdles with a time of 1:04.49. Also in the race, Kirsten Aarsvold '11, placed fifth with a time of 1:12.65 having struggled with an ear infection all week.

In the 200, Gross finished third with a personal best of 25.68 to add her points to those scored by Jones and Brew.

The 800 meter race brought Lloyd a personal record of 2:24.09 and a third place finish, while Louise van den Heuvel placed second with a time of 2:22.21.

The 5000 was a good race for the women, too. Anna Holt-Gosselin '11, took a solid lead from the gun and never looked back. She finished with a time of 17:19.86 having run alone the entire race. This time was a new MIT record and also the fifth fastest time in the country for Division III to go along with her fourth fastest 10K time. Brooke Johnson '13, made a terrific debut at the distance, racing for the first half with Sarah Sprague '13, and then making a move that would give her a second place finish and a time of 18:09.45. Sprague finished with 18:46.48 and a sixth place.

Capturing five out of six places, the women’s pole vaulters had their typical solid day. Fisher had the winning height of 11 feet 5 ¾ inches, while Lauren Kuntz '13, and Briner jumped the same height but placed second and third, respectively, due to missed attempts. Becky Stavely '11, and Kate Wymbs '14, both jumped 10 feet even for fifth and sixth place.

In the throwing events, the women earned additional points. Brooke Hamilton '14, had a good showing in the Discus Throw, placing fourth with a throw of 95 feet 10 inches. Hamilton captured second in the Shot Put with a personal best of 37 feet 8 inches and Briner finished fourth with a throw of 33 feet and 3 ¾ inches. Christine Labaza '14, finished fifth with a throw of 33 feet and 3 ¼ inches. Winning the javelin, Konopka threw a personal best of 108 feet and 5 inches.

While the women led the meet from start to finish, they continued to compete at the highest level throughout the day.

The Engineers compete at home next week in the Spring Invite, starting at 10:15 with the 10K.

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