May 12-13, 2000
Eight Track and Field athletes qualified for and made the trip down to Storrs, Connecticut to compete in the New England Intercollegiate Amateur Athletic Association Outdoor Track and Field Championship. This meet represents one of only two opportunities each season that athletes from Division III Institutions can compete against athletes from Division I and II schools.
With MIT heading into exams, only those individuals who qualify and have a chance to move on to the NCAA Division III Championships usually go to this meet. The two day meet would have started with Nikos Michalakis '01, in the Javelin, but Nikos is still nursing a strained oblique muscle. Robbie Gray '02, got things rolling in the Long Jump. Robbie had nice distance but could not get on the board, finishing with a jump of 20-5.
Tony Pelosi '01, entered in the 400IH, ran a 56.06, his second best time of the season. In the 1500, Sean Montgomery '01, was to run the trials on Friday and finals on Saturday if he qualified. In the trials, Sean spent a lot of energy moving in and out of the crowded pack, causing him to fatigue in the final 200 meters. Sean nevertheless finished in 3:54.04, good enough to make it into the finals. Later in the evening of the first day, Chris McGuire '00, was going for a national qualifying effort in the 5000 to go along with his qualifying performance in the 10K back in March. Unfortunately, the pace was ridiculously slow. The mile split was 4:49 and the 1 1/2 was 7:19. At this point Chris took the lead and pushed the pace to 69 second quarters. However, Chris could not hear his splits and did not know if the pace was fast or not. Not expecting to be in position to win the race, Chris was too timid and let the opportunity slip away. However, he still finished strong to make the provisional standard with a time of 14:49.25, good enough for 3rd place.
On Saturday, Craig Mielcarz '03, started things of in the High Jump. The opening height was 6-5, which Craig did not make. Craig usually gets better as the competition progresses, and starting so high never allowed him to get into the rhythm.
The 1500 was a final of 10 runners, of which Sean was the only one from Division III. Unlike the 5000, there was no fooling around with the pace in this one. The first quarter was in 58 for Sean and he was towards the back. At the half, Sean had moved up nicely, coming through with a split of 2:00 for the 800. The third quarter was more of the same, coming in at 3:02 with Sean in good position for 3rd place. With 200 to go, Sean seemed to let the pain get the best of him and lost 3 places. However, with 100 to go he woke up and passed them back to finish in 4th with a PR of 3:50.25.
The 1600 Relay was going for a national qualifying mark of 3:17. Even if that time were achieved, the team of Yuval Mazor '02, Todd Rosenfield '01, Matt Lehman '03, and Montgomery knew they would have to run a solid 3:16 in order to make nationals. Yuval led things off with his best time of the year, a 49.2 leadoff. Todd, who actually runs faster indoors than outdoors, had a fine leg of 50.1. Lehman made up some ground with his 49.5 leg, and Sean, running a 49.2, kept MIT in solid position while almost catching the 2nd place team in the second fastest section. The 3:18.00 was the best time for MIT this year, but not good enough to advance to any other championships.
Montgomery, McGuire, and Michalakis have qualified for nationals and will be traveling to Naperville on May 23. Mielcarz is qualified provisionally in the High Jump and may try to better his position this weekend at RPI, the hosts of a last chance qualifying meet.