Teams: Men's Track & Field: Schedule & Results

JUMBOS TIE WILLIAMS FOR NESCAC TRACK & FIELD TITLE

COLLEGE MEN'S OUTDOOR TRACK & FIELD RESULTS
NESCAC Championships
At Middlebury, VT
Saturday, April 28, 2007

Championship Results

MIDDLEBURY, Vt. -- The Tufts University men's outdoor track & field team and Williams College will share the 2007 NESCAC title after both scored 197.5 points on Saturday at the championship meet hosted by Middlebury College. The Ephs had dominated the meet for more than a decade, winning six straight titles and 14 of 15 prior to this year. It is Tufts' first title since 1991. The Jumbos and Ephs were followed by Bates (95), Bowdoin (62) and Middlebury (53).

The championship came down to the final event, the distance medley relay. Tufts had a four-point lead and was within reach of winning the conference championship. As the final, mile-leg progressed, it became clear that Williams and Bowdoin were going to duel for first and second. Jumbo freshman Jesse Faller (Burlington, MA) and his counterparts from Trinity and Middlebury were going to fight for the next three positions. Faller and the Middlebury runner entered the home straight-away in a dead sprint for third place. Faller had to out-sprint Middlebury in order for Tufts to tie Williams, and he did so dramatically by mere tenths of a second. He was mobbed at the finish line by his teammates.

Beyond the sensational finish, head coach Ethan Barron's Jumbos tied for first largely with their depth. They won three events, then filled in with many top-eight finishes to score. Senior Joshua Kennedy (Guilford, CT), hampered by injury his whole senior year, emerged at NESCACs and won the 5,000 meter run with a time of 15 minutes, 4.03 seconds. Junior Jeremy Arak (Ipswich, MA) led a 1-2-3 finish in the high jump for Tufts by clearing 6 feet, 3 1/2 inches to win. Tufts scored huge points in the hurdles. Freshman Ikenna Acholonu (Shoreline, WA) led four Jumbos who scored in the 110-meter hurdles by winning in 15.30 seconds. Four Jumbos also scored in the 400-meter hurdles, led by the second-place time of 55.52 seconds from freshman Andrew Longley (Short Hills, NJ).

Tufts was second in two relays. The 4x100 group of senior tri-captain Fred Jones (Northfield, MA), senior Mickey Ferri (Stamford, CT), Longley and sophomore Colin Fitzgerald (Scarborough, NY) ran 42.55 seconds, the second-fasted time in Tufts history behind the record of 42.43 seconds set in 1995. The Tufts 4x4 foursome of James Bradley (Atkinson, NH), Longley, junior Nate Scott (East Hartford, CT) and senior Dustin Virgilio (Pittsfield, MA) finishing second with a 3:21.02 time.

Junior Dave Sorensen (Dover, MA) also had a runner-up finish in the 3,000 meter steeplechase (9:17.52), which is an NCAA provisional qualifying mark. Jones was second in both the long jump and triple jump, with marks of 22' 11" (season best) and 46' 6 3/4", respectively. Senior tri-captain David McCleary (Ellington, CT) was second in javelin, reaching 177-feet flat to score eight of the 18 Tufts points in the event.

The titles were the second each in the conference for Arak and Kennedy. Arak won the high jump last year by clearing 6'6", and Kennedy was the 10K champion as a freshman in 2004 with a 32:33.88 time.

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