Women Claim Title, Men Are a Close Second in New England Division III Championship

May 7, 2011

MIT hosted the New England Division III Men's and Women's Outdoor Track and Field Championship this weekend. The Engineers competed fiercely on their home track, overcoming a significant disadvantage to the higher seeded Williams College. The women came out on top in the 29 team field, edging Williams by 3.5 points, 141.5 to 138. The men came very close, closing out the meet with extraordinary determination, but fell four points short, finishing second among the 29 teams with 147 points to 151 for Williams.

Going into the meet, the men were 12 point underdogs to Williams while the women were over 30 point underdogs, depending on how one predicted the 10K outcome. In 2009, MIT's women swept the Cross Country, Indoor Track and Outdoor Track New England Division III titles while in 2010 they finished fourth in Cross Country (although they finished third at the NCAA's), and second in both Indoor and Outdoor Track. They started 2011 off with a very close second place finish in the Indoor Track Championship and were pretty sick of the bridesmaid position. The men won the New England Division III titles Indoors in 2010 and finished second Outdoors, losing the meet in the final event. The men closed out 2010 with the Cross Country title. They began 2011 in similar fashion, defending their Indoor Championship. Now they were hungry for an Outdoor title and there is no place like home to do so.

The three day men's meet began with the first day of the Decathlon. There were only eight qualifiers entered to compete. One of which was Nick Leonard '11, of MIT. Leonard had not trained for or competed in the Decathlon since his freshman year, since concentrating on the hurdle event. About four weeks ago, Leonard again began training for the Dec., qualifying for this championship one week later.

At the end of day one, Leonard was in third place, which was the same as his seed. On day two, Leonard moved into second briefly but the throwing events pushed him back to third. An inspired 1500, run in 4:50 was enough to keep him in third with 5507 points. Isaac Nicholson '11, of Williams leading through day one, fell over the last two hurdles in that event and no-heighted in the pole vault to eliminate any chance of winning the event. He still came back to finish in fifth, a remarkable sign of competitiveness.

In addition to the completion of the Decathlon, Friday's events were day one of the Heptathlon as well as the Men's and Women's Long Jump, Discus, 10K and the men's Javelin. Hazel Briner '11, finishing second in the Heptathlon last year and not making the NCAA field, and fouling out in the Long Jump in the Pentathlon at the 2011 Indoor New England Division III Championship to fail in defending her title, was hungry to regain her place at the top. Winning the 100 Hurdles with a personal best of 15.32, she never looked back, leading the pack at the end of day one.

MIT did not have an entry in the Men's Long Jump and did not score in the Women's Long Jump. However, Williams College did not fail to take advantage. In the men's competition, they improved on their seeds, claiming first and second, while the women placed first and fourth, despite All America jumper, Tanasia Hoffler '13, unable to compete due to a hamstring injury.

In the Discus, MIT women did not score, although Christine Labaza '14, finished 10th, less than three feet out of eighth place, the last scoring position. Williams again proved up to the task, placing second and seventh for an early total of 25 points. MIT's men were favored to score nine points in the Discus, but unbelievably did not bring the necessary intensity needed to do well in a championship of this magnitude. Williams continued their success, moving up one spot on their seed position. The men from Williams now had 26 points.

The 10K for the women was quite possibly the best 10K in the country this year, certainly for Division III. The Williams contingent were out to not only score points, but to qualify for the NCAA Championship. MIT was just trying to score as many points as possible since Anna Holt-Gosselin '11 already had a solid NCAA qualifying time. The race began with a crisp 84 second first 400 and the only deviation to the 84-85 second 400 splits came in the final two laps. The trio of Jennifer Gossels '13, of Williams, Holt-Gosselin and Annie Dear '13 of Williams, dropped the pace to an 83 pace and then lit it up with Gossels pulling away to win in 35:18.82 with Holt-Gosselin in second at 35:20.79. These are the top two times in the country at this time. Dear finished third for Williams and the Ephs also claimed fourth for 21 points. Alina Gatowski '11, and Tania Morimoto '12, also scored for MIT, placing sixth and seventh respectively to keep MIT close in the scoring. The men's race was no less exciting, but was far from an MIT vs. Williams dual. The pace for the men was a much more reasonable 77 to 78 seconds per lap until the 8000 meter mark. Roy Wedge '14, and Dan Harper '12, were representing MIT and were with the leaders. The pace now picked up to 72 seconds, breaking up the lead pack, which became a dual between Wedge and Connecticut College's Shawn Mulcahy '11, the top seed. Wedge was relentless then threw down a 64 last 400 to put the win away in 31:47.89. Harper finished in third in 31:58.78, defeating the lone Williams scorer in fourth.

In the men's Javelin, Vlad Sobes '11, of MIT, seeded third, opened up with a new MIT record of 214-05, an automatic NCAA qualifying mark. The next closest mark was 188-08, giving Sobes an easy victory and a big 10 points for MIT.

At the end of day two, Williams was sitting with 56 points to MIT's 23 in the women's meet, while in the men's meet, MIT had a small lead over Williams 32 to 31. While day two was warm but very windy, day three was predicted to be a high of 64 with thunder storms off and on throughout the day.

Day three began with amazing weather, contrary to the predictions and amazing performances. MIT athletes made it through the qualifying rounds of the 100 Meter Dash and High Hurdles with no surprises with the exception of Brian Djaja '13, in the 110HH, who dropped a half second off his time to run 15.70 and make the finals.

Briner continued to dominate the Heptathlon, scoring 4431 points for a new MIT record and qualify provisionally for the NCAA Division III Championship.

The first final of the day was the 3000 Meter Steeplechase. MIT was seeded third and sixth while Williams was seeded in seventh and eighth. Williams moved up to third and seventh while Tech dropped to only a sixth. However, Martina de Geus '14, while not placing as high as she was seeded, raced marvelously, setting a new MIT freshman record and qualifying provisionally for the NCAA Division III Championships. The men dominated the event. Paul Welle '11 ran 9:17.07 to claim second place. Stephen Serene '12, ran a huge personal best to claim fourth in 9:22.77, an NCAA provisional qualifying mark. Richard Prevost '11, ran a gutsy 9:25.25 to get fifth. Williams also moved up in the event, placing first and eighth.

In the 4x100 relay, MIT's team of Jackie Brew '14, Martha Gross '12, Jamie Simmons '12, and Portia Jones '12, tied their own MIT record of 48.28 in winning the event. Williams did not score, allowing MIT to chip away at the seemingly huge point deficit. In the men's race, Josh Duncavage '13, Leonard, Tyler Singer-Clark and Nathan Peterson '12, did the unimaginable, winning in a season best of 42.80. This was with MIT's top sprinter being out with an injured hamstring.

In the field events things started going MIT's way at least in the sense that Williams was not living up to their seeds. In the High Jump, Megan Bumgarner '14, placed in a tie for eighth while not being seeded to score while Williams did not score after being seeded fifth. For the men, Matt Falk '12, moved up from a non-scoring seed to place third with a new personal best of 6-04. Williams only managed to move up one place from their seeds, allowing MIT to close in a little more.

MIT's throwers made up for their Discus performance by placing third and fourth in the Hammer Throw. Kenneth Cooper '13, improved to 187-07 while CK Umachi '12, moved up his PR to 179-11, both improved NCAA qualifying marks. Williams was seeded to score fourth and eighth but only managed a seventh. MIT was not expected to score in the women's Hammer, and did not, but the second seeded Williams thrower fouled out.

In the Pole Vault, Cyrus Vafadari '12, vaulted to a personal best of 15-11 to win the event and qualify provisionally for the NCAA Division III Championship. Nathan Peterson, was not able to clear another height after the successful 4x100 relay, leaving him in sixth place at 14-5 1/4. The Williams vaulter moved up from his eighth seed to finish third. The women did not dominate quite as much as they were hoping, but they certainly helped MIT's cause by having a marvelous event. Karin Fisher '11, cleared 13-1 to win the event. Lauren Kuntz '13, cleared 12-1 1/2 for a new personal best and second place. Briner came back from the Hep. to claim fourth at 11-7 3/4. Becky Stavely '11, had a great day, taking eighth place at 11-1 3/4. The 24 points for MIT were the biggest single event total for MIT.

In the Triple Jump, Williams was seeded to score 19 points on the women's side. Without Hoffler, they still managed 14 points. Fisher jumped a personal best of 35-08 for MIT, but finished one place out of scoring in ninth. Jackson Wirekoh '13, seeded 18th, jumped a two foot personal best of 45-09 3/4 to place an amazing fourth, easily the performance of the meet for MIT. Even with that Williams placed first and third to score 16 more points.

Back on the oval it was time for the 1500. MIT was not seeded to score in the event although they had the defending Mile indoor champion, Kyle Hannon '13. All four of MIT's runners were in the unseeded section since they had all run 4:00 this season, a fast time, but not fast enough for the seeded section. Justin Bullock '14, ran an excellent 3:57.19 and Hannon 3:58.75, but neither placed. On a positive note, Williams was favored to win, but only placed sixth and seventh. For the women, Williams continued to fail to take advantage of a lack of MIT runners. While no MIT runners were racing, Williams was seeded to win and garner seventh and eighth as well, but only managed an eighth.

The High Hurdles was MIT's second best event on the women's side and they came through with a second place by Portia Jones in a season best 14.57. Amy Magnuson 'G, tied her season best 14.59. Brew made the finals and placed eighth in a personal best of 15.28. Williams had no one in the finals. For the men, Djaja continued to defy all odds and placed sixth with a new PR of 15.33. Williams however placed 1-3-5 to dominate the event.

The 400 was next and MIT's Simmons ran a personal best and national qualifying mark of 56.28, but only managed a close second. Gross ran a season best of 58.59 to place fifth. Again, Williams failed to score. However, on the men's side, MIT did not have an entry but Williams did and placed second and tied for sixth for 10.5 more points.

The 100 for the women saw Jones come back and earn second place in a personal best, new MIT record and national qualifying mark of 12.16. Brew placed eighth in 12.70 to give MIT nine more points. Williams did manage six points with a third place finish. In the men's race, the faulty blank in the starter's gun was loud enough for the runners to hear, but not loud enough to start the automatic timing system. The officials got the places but not the times. Duncavage placed fifth after running 10.98 in the trials.

It was hoped Pat Marx '13, would match his freshman year magic in the 800, but he never got it going. He ran 1:55.87, but only placed eighth. First place was only 1:54.86. Williams grabbed a key third place. In the women's race, MIT did not have an entry, but Williams did and they capitalized with a third place.

In the 400IH, Simmons came back and won this time, defending her title in 62.16. Williams had the fourth seed, but she failed to score. Leonard continued to have a great meet, this time running a season best despite a full Decathlon, the HH trials and the 4x100. His 55.34 was good for eighth place. Williams performed brilliantly, placing 1-3-6 to keep MIT at bay.

Jones did her job once again, this time winning the 200 in 24.58 with Gross supporting very well with a time of 25.42 to claim fourth while Williams managed a fifth and seventh. Duncavage and Singer-Clark teamed up again to take third and fourth, but with Singer-Clark taking third in a personal best 22.18. Duncavage ran 22.24.

The Shot Put was finishing around this time and brought more good news for MIT. Cooper placed fourth with a fine throw of 50-0 3/4. Mitch Kelley '11, threw a season best of 49-8 1/4 for fifth. Williams did not score. The women's Shot was a key event. Williams was seeded to take fifth and seventh in the Shot, but fell to sixth and seventh in the results. MIT failed to score. MIT was up by 21.5 points at this time and knew Williams was planning to bring back their strong distance squad in the 5K. Every point was going to count.

With only the 5k, 4x400 and 4x800 to go, both meets were still on the line. Every member of MIT's team, despite the late hour due to two lightning delays of over three hours, were lining every foot of the turns and back stretch, ready to chant a loud "MIT" every time an MIT runner came by. In the men's meet, Williams held a 12 point advantage. Tech was bringing back their five best distance runners, but all had run either the 10K or 3K Steeplechase in the meet. Unfortunately the pace was just too fast to allow MIT to have it come down to the final 800 where MIT had the advantage. Welle placed fifth for MIT in a PR of 15:01.94. Although MIT ran excellent times, Harper (15:13.71), Serene (15:28.71), Wedge (15:28.71), Prevost (15:34.41) were unable to score. Williams did not get what they were seeded for, but did manage seven points to all but ice the victory. In the women's race, Holt-Gosselin sat out due to foot pain, but Gatowski and Morimoto got on the track to see if they could assist Brooke Johnson '13, to try and hold MIT's lead. Williams group of runners took the pace out hard enough that MIT's runners could not go with them despite the cheers from their teammates. Johnson ran a huge personal best of 17:45.51 to place fifth for MIT's only score while Williams took 1-2-4-8 for a whopping 24 points.

MIT was still up by 2.5 going into the relays in the women's meet. The men were down by 15 so short of a DQ, there was not much of a chance for MIT to win. However, the athletes knew that stranger things have happened and did not relent. In the 4x800, Louise van den Heuvel '14, Chandler Burfield '13, Maggie Lloyd '12, and Alexandra Taylor '14, were nervous but competitive and showed it. van den Heuvel ran a PR of 2:19.4 to give MIT the lead. Burfield went up against a phenomenal Williams runner, going out in 65 to try and stay with her, but died in the final lap. She still held on to a 2:23.6 split and remained in second place. Lloyd put together her own PR of 2:19.2 to keep the team in second. Taylor took it out well, but the anchor legs were strong and two passed her in the second lap. In the homestretch she fought back to catch one, splitting a PR of 2:20.9 giving MIT third place in 9:23.54 even though Williams placed first. The men ran an excellent race. Jared Forman '14, ran an inspired leg, splitting 1:57.9 to put MIT even at the handoff. Bullock continued his very impressive freshman year, running 1:55.0 to give MIT the lead. Logan Daum '11, ran an excellent 1:58.2, but MIT was slightly behind at the handoff. Hannon ran a 1:54.5 to outsprint the Williams runner who placed third in the open 800. MIT's overall winning time was 7:45.70.

With only the 4x400 to go, the men were down by 11 and no way possible to win. The women were now behind by 1.5 points. The women knew they had to win the event to guarantee the victory, and having one of the best 4x400 teams in the country gave them pretty good odds of getting the job done. Simmons left no doubt as she led off with a 55.4 to give MIT a lead they would never relinquish. Briner came back with a 60.6 to allow Williams to get within 30 meters, but then Gross split 58.1 and Jones closed the lid with a 56.1 to run an NCAA qualifying time of 3:50.34. Williams fell to fourth place to give MIT a 3.5 point victory. There was no sign from the 4x400 team that the MIT men could not win. Duncavage took off and split a 50.4 to put MIT in the thick of the chase. Singer-Clark ran 49.5 to give MIT the lead. DJ Ronde '13, ran an excellent 50.4 to give Pat Marx a slight lead after an excellent handoff. Marx battled the entire 400 to finish in 48.9 and give MIT a sweep of the three relays. The winning time of 3:19.42 was easily a season best.

The performances and energy displayed by MIT was nothing short of inspirational and shows what a true team attitude can bring to the performance table. For the next two weeks, MIT will forget about the team aspect, instead working on individuals trying to qualify or improve their qualifying marks for the NCAA Division III Championships in three weeks. Next weekend the Engineers will travel to Southern Connecticut State University for the NEICAAA Championship, an opportunity to compete against all the Division I, II and III teams in New England.

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