SCHMECKPEPER LEADS MIT TO 3RD PLACE FINISH
October 1, 2004
For the second race in a row the weather was less than favorable for good racing performances. Ben Schmeckpeper fought the cold rain and high winds to place third in the Pre-national meet at the Whitetail Golf Course, hosted by UW Eau Claire and led MIT to a third place team finish with 103 points.
Schmeckpeper moved to the front of the pack at the beginning of the race, working through the first mile conservatively in 5:06. By mile two, the lead group of four, including Schmeckpeper, had separated themselves from the rest of the field. The eventual winner, Dan Winder of Loras College pulled away in the third mile but the other three slugged it out to the finish with Schmeckpeper finishing in the middle in 25:49.
John Brewer and Eric Khatchadourian also ran a conservative first mile in 5:12, running off the second pack of runners, which included a group of runners from UW Lacrosse, St. Olaf and Nebraska Wesleyan. They gradually moved up in the pack and made up significant ground in the latter half of the race. Brewer finished in 13th place, only 20 seconds behind Schmeckpeper. Khatchadourian followed five places and seven seconds back.
Just behind Brewer and Khatchadourian were Carlos Renjifo and Kevin Brulois. Renjifo ran a superb first two miles before falling a little off the pace while trying to encourage Brulois to stay up. He nevertheless finished strong over the final two miles to place 26th, only 38 seconds behind Schmeckpeper. Brulois, looking good through two miles, faded badly as he felt the effects of his lack of sleep during the week. Normally only 20+ seconds behind the lead MIT runner, Brulois finished 1:23 behind.
Running a great race, particularly for only his second race of the season, was Fivos Constantinou. Running a 5:23 first mile and 5:17 second mile. He did lose a little focus on the third mile, but finished strong to end up as MIT's fifth man, passing Brulois in the final mile. MIT was only three points behind winner St. Olaf through their first four runners, but the 45th place by MIT for their fifth man did them in, putting them 18 points behind St. Olaf and one point behind UW Lacrosse.
Also running for MIT were freshmen Chris Wong, Chris Bruce and sophomore Spencer Dudley. Wong ran an outstanding race, running a strong, even pace for his best race of the season. Wong finished as MIT's seventh man.
Next Friday, MIT is at home at Franklin Park to run in the All New Englands, a championship that involves all divisions of NCAA schools in the New England region. The varsity gun goes off at 1:00 and the sub-varsity starts at 1:45.