May 6, 2000

MIT went into the New England Division III Championship this weekend seeded 4th and that is exactly where they finished with 70 points, behind host Springfield's 123, Williams' 96, and Bates' 83. It was the first time in four NE Div. III Championships that MIT finished so low in the team scoring. After the Indoor victory, it was assumed by many that MIT would continue it's streak given the youth of their team, but misfortune paid a visit to the Engineer's, forcing them to wait until next year to win another title.

When provisional national qualifier, Dan Feldman '02, decided to forego the outdoor season in favor of the Boston Marathon, the team thought they could rally and get the job done. When Rick Rajter '03, the leading point scorer from the indoor season, came down with a season ending stress fracture due to a structural imbalance in his foot the team still thought if things went well they would have a chance. But in the final week, when Peter Bluvas '01, last year's decathlon runner-up, held a 104 degree fever for three days, and Kalpak Kothari '01, last year's Triple Jump champion, developed a heel bruise when landing incorrectly on his 2nd phase during last week's conference championship, the team realized it was not in their immediate future to win the title.

Nevertheless, the team went to Springfield to get the job done. Chris McGuire '00, started things off in the 10K with an easy victory in the balmy 80+ degree, humid weather. Chris, having already qualified for the National Championship later this month, and planning on running a fast 5K next weekend, just ran to win, doing so by 27 seconds in 32:04.67.

In the Long Jump, Tech was seeded for 2 points. Junius Ho '01, set a PR with a leap of 21-7 1/4 to steal 6th place and Robbie Gray '02, came through with a 20-10 1/2 effort for 8th place and a total of 4 points. At the same time, the Javelin was going on, but Nikos Michalakis '01, was not having a good time of it. Nikos came into the meet with a sore shoulder and elbow, and during warm-up, strained his obliques. Nevertheless, he took two throws before pulling out, good enough to secure 3rd with a 193-4 throw, one place lower than his seed.

One of the best events for MIT was the 400 Relay. Tech was seeded 12th with a 43.96 and set to run in the slow section. MIT was convinced they had worked out the problems with their new line-up and were ready to run well enough to not only win their section, but also place. Robbie Gray came over from the Long Jump and provided a fine lead off leg, but just missed the first attempt at handing off to Kevin Atkinson '02. They connected a split second later, apparently not losing any speed through the zone. Kevin's handoff to Yuval Mazor '02, was perfect, allowing Yuval to move up to 2nd, behind Tufts coming into the final handoff. Yuval called for the pass a bit too soon, causing Marc Washington to run with his hand back too long. However, once Marc received the baton, he walked down the Tufts' anchor, finishing in 42.95 to not only win their section, but also place 6th, only .01 out of 5th place.

Craig Mielcarz '03, did not live up to his 7th seed in the Long Jump, but he more than made up for that by coming through in the High Jump. Craig was not looking good during warm-ups, and did not jump well at his opening height of 6-3, but as the competition went on, Craig improved. Only two jumpers cleared 6-7, and Craig did so in less attempts. At 6-9 1/2, Craig had two good attempts, but did not make it. In addition to the victory, Brian Hoying '03, added a 6th.

The 1500, another event we were expected to win, was not going to be as easy as the 10K. Sean Montgomery '01, was undefeated all season, nevertheless his victory was not guaranteed. The pace started out slow with 64 first quarter. Gradually the pace picked up with a 2:07 800, with Sean sitting in 2nd place. The third quarter picked up significantly as Matt Twiest from Bates, leading from the beginning tried to break up the field. Coming through in 3:08, freshman Mark Miller from Keene State, took over and picked up the pace. Sean was still following until there was 200 to go. At that point Sean tried to take the lead but was held off by Miller until the final straight. Finally, with 100 to go, Sean pulled into the lead, winning with a 3:52.04 performance.

Junius was up again, this time in the 110HH Final. Junius had a poor start in the trials but finished strong in 15.77. In the finals, he came out well, but was not sprinting well between the hurdles. Nevertheless, Junius finished in 7th, 2 places up from his 9th seed.

In the 400IH, Tony Pelosi '01, was ready to improve on his 55.94 PR in the trials earlier in the afternoon. Tony somehow got out a little off, and for the first time this season came to the first hurdle with 23 steps instead of his usual 22. Tony can hurdle well with both legs, but the change through him off enough that he tried to get back on the correct leg, causing him to struggle and fatigue too early. Tony faded in the final 100, running 57.54 for 8th.

MIT was favored to score 4 points in the Pole Vault, an event the Engineers had three entrants in. Matt Potts '00, and Dan Opila '03, both cleared the first two heights to put themselves in good scoring position. Matt, struggling all year, came through when it counted most with a 13-3 1/2 personal best for 4th place. Dan finished in 6th place to give Tech 8 points in the event.

Ed Keehr, was seeded 6th in the 5000, but when the early pace went out quickly in the high temperatures, Ed began to fade. Normally very consistent, Ed started running 78 second pace after the first mile and a half, and by 2 miles was up to 80 pace, and about to lose possession of 8th place. Somehow, Ed found a way to get it back. With 2 1/2 laps to go, Ed started coming back. He ran a 78 quarter to start to move up on the 6th and 7th place runners. Ed's next lap was a 69 as he blew past the runners and into 5th place. Another runner caught Ed despite his continued kick, leaving Ed with his predicted 6th place in 15:35.68.

The final event, the 1600 Relay, looked to be hotly contested with many possible sub 3:20 performances. Instead, the heat during the day wore everyone out, resulting in no teams breaking 3:20. MIT started off with Mazor who brought the baton home in 50.0 and just behind Colby College. Todd Rosenfield '01, went out hard, taking over the lead and pulling away until the 200 mark. Amherst College and Colby were coming up strong in the end with Amherst pulling slightly ahead at the handoff. The handoff from Rosenfield, who ran a 50.4 leg, to Matt Lehman '03, was not very good, which put Lehman behind Amherst. Matt worked too hard to pull into the lead, causing him to fatigue too much at the end, which allowed Amherst to finish even up, with Springfield and Colby close behind. Montgomery had a great handoff to take a quick lead. Down the back straight, the Amherst runner put some pressure on Sean who responded by pulling away and never looking back, finishing in 49.6 to bring the team to victory in 3:20.28.

Next week, the Engineer's travel to UConn for the All Division New England Championships.