Men's Track Finishes 2nd at MIT
Boston, MA-- The MIT Invitational of February 7th, 2009 marked a shift in agenda for the Eph's track & field team. Whereas in previous meets athletes focused on improvement, personal bests, qualifying standards, and individual efforts, at the MIT Invite the Ephs fought for team victory. Practically, this means that top athletes often compete in multiple events instead of focusing on one in order to earn as many points as possible for the team. It also is the approach the Ephs will employ for the rest of the season as they attempt to place as high as possible in subsequent championship meets.
Despite a strong effort, the Ephs finished 2nd out of three teams, behind favorite and meet host MIT. MIT won with 171 points, Williams was second with 117.5, and Coast Guard finished third with 87.5. Although future meets are more important, perhaps there was an extra incentive for the Ephs to perform well in this meet; it marked Ephs Head Coach Fletcher Brooks' first return to MIT since leaving the school to accept the head coaching position at Williams. Indeed, energy was high with enthusiastic cheering for all performances by all three teams. However, the Ephs had an upset on their minds, not a second place finish. The general feeling after the meet: That the Ephs are capable of much more and indeed, must perform much better if they hope to realize their goal of a Division III Championship.
On a day when Eph women racked up 27 points in throwing events, Eph men could manage only six. The bright spot was Matt Farley '11, an All-American from last season, who threw 13.88 meters to nab second place and five points for the Ephs. Rusty Cowher '12, was responsible for the sixth point.
The Ephs fared slightly better in jumping events, but still found themselves looking up at M.I.T. in the standings. Steve Rubin '11 did all he could to even the score, taking four points with a long jump of 6.54m and three points with a triple jump of 13.31 meters. Upstart freshman Tomas Kearney has perhaps been the Ephs top performer in jumping events this season but may have been a bit flat. His performances of eighth in the high jump and fifth in the triple jump netted the team two points. That the Ephs were without a men's pole vaulter didn't help as MIT took thirteen points to the Ephs' zero in the pole vault.
To be sure, what the Ephs may have lacked in performance they tried to subsidize with effort. However, the sprint events were really the lone spot where the Ephs were able to provide both, scoring highly in the 55m to 600m events. Taylor "Fitz" Fitzgerald '11 was the star. Matched against top teammates in the 400m race, Fitzgerald shot out to a blistering high 23 second first lap, gathering a lead of several lenghts in the first 200m of the race. He held on to win the race in a time of 50.73, a season best, and a half second in front of teammate Deividas "Lithium" Seferis '09. But the dynamic duo of Fitz and Lithium didn't stop there. In the 55m race, it was Seferis' turn to one up his teammate. Seferis' 6.70 sec effort bested Fitzgerald's 6.79, and Seferis claimed second place to Fitzgerald's third. The Ephs also took fourth and fifth in the race thanks to freshman Jamaal Jefferson and co-captain Eric Jonash.
In the 1600 m relay, Fitz and Lithium would be competing together as opposed to against one another. The combination was good for second place as the Ephs finished one second behind Coast Guard to claim second place in a time of 3:28.17. Viktor Nagy '12, lived up to the hype accorded to the talented freshman, claiming a pair of second place finishes in the 200 and 600m races.
The mid-distance and distance races were where the Ephs were really looking to dominate. And to be fair, the Ephs ran relatively strong, grabbing several scoring places in all of the races. But in events where they were supposed to be weakest, MIT athletes threw out several gutty performances and managed to steal points from the Ephs. MIT athlete Yermie Cohen was especially a thorn in the side of the Ephs all day. Twice he and Eph stud Macklin Chaffee (an All-American from last season) went head-to-head and twice, Cohen had more at the end to pull out the victory. Chaffee '09 finished second in the 800m and mile races, both times finished less than a quarter second behind Cohen. The middle distance combo of Brian Cole '11 and Edgar Kosgey '10 tried to pick up the slack in the 1000m race. After biding his time (he was 5th after 800m), Cole unleashed a powerful kick to score the win. For a moment, it looked as though the momentum might shift towards the Ephs. But MIT proved themselves to be the stronger team throughout the meet, responding with a 1-2 finish in the 3000. Brendan Christian '09 did finish third, running 8:54, but MIT also finished fourth. And again in the 5K, where MIT would take 1st, 3rd, and 4th, with only Corey Watts '10 breaking up the string of Engineers with his run of 15:40.
The Ephs will have to be better in future meets, that's all there is too it. But if there's anything than can characterize this team, it's a steadfast dedication to quality training. The Ephs aren't basing the strength of their season on this intermediary meet. Division III's and later championships will tell the true story. Tune in next week to see if the Ephs can capitalize on their strong training.
