Complete Results, Boston University
Complete Results, M.I.T. to follow shortly
BOSTON, Mass.--Williams sent athletes to two separate venues on Saturday, the fieldhouses at both Boston University and M.I.T. One track, that of Boston University, is known for being extremely fast, with massive banked turns, hectic starts, crowded races, and limitless Division I competition. The other, M.I.T.'s, is unbanked and seemed to run especially slow on Saturday. Both venues, however, featured several gutsy performances by Eph athletes. Most notably, Taylor "Fitz" Fitzgerald '11 just missed NCAA provisional qualifier in the 400m race along with teammate Jabulani "Jabs" Blyden '13 while Anthony Raduazo '12 fell just short of one as well in the 5000m. Connor Kamm '10 just missed the same qualifier in the mile. Most of their times were fast enough to hit the qualifying standard under normal circumstances but fell just short becuase BU is a banked track. Several other athletes including Edgar Kosgey '10 and Richard Fusco '12 (in the 3000m and 500m, respectively), ran spectacular times that easily eclipsed the Open New Englands qualifier but did not earn NCAA qualifiers because those events are not competed in at the National level. For a review of qualifying standards for the 2010 Indoor Track Season, click here.
The racing excitement began on Friday when four Ephs, Taylor Fitzgerald '11, Jabulani Blyden '13, Josephat Koima '12, and Edgar Kosgey '10 finished 11th of 30 schools in the Distance Medley Relay, running 10:13.14. Although the effort was just six seconds slower than the NCAA provisonal time, the Ephs were nonetheless disappointed in the performance. With four athletes as talented as those the Ephs ran on Friday, the sights were clearly set on a berth at the NCAA Championships.
Each of those four athletes would respond in a big way on Saturday. As was mentioned above, both Blyden and Fitzgerald earned NCAA provos in the 400, with Blyden running 49.50 and Fitzgerald running 49.74. Blyden's time ranked him 36th of 190 Division I through Division III athletes. Several professional or semi-pro athletes were also in that mix of 190 runners. Another sprinter, Moyukh Ghosh '11, earned a Division III and ECAC qualifier in the 200m with his time of 22.98.
While "Jabs" and "Fitz" were paired in the 400m, Kosgey and Koima were paired in the 3000m. Kosgey ran a blistering 8:27, good for 30th of 190 runners. To give an idea of the talent level present at the meet, Kyle Heath, running unattached, won the 3000m in 8:02.82. Koima ran 8:40 while senior Corey Watts ran an impressive 8:42. Teammates Matt Wyatt and and Cullen Roberts were not far behind. In the mile, Connor Kamm '10 ran a PR of 4:16.75 and just missed the NCAA provo mark. Brian Cole '11 had by far his strongest race of the season in the same event in running 4:19. Anthony Raduazo's 14:52 in the 5000m was a PR. In short, it was the Ephs strongest collective distance performance on the track in a long time.
BU is known for being an extremely fast track; it is not notable for its jumping pits or throwing arenas. For that reason, Eph athletes were largely held out of throwing and jumping events in preparation for next week. Just a few Eph field athletes in search of qualifiers competed at M.I.T. Unfortunately, no new qualifying marks were notched into the Ephs' collective belt.
This week was an exciting time to quest for personal bests amongst stringent competition. Next week, however, is the true test. The Ephs are the underdog at the Division III championships, to be held next week at Bates College in Maine. It is a role in which the Ephs have succeeded before. For this team, anything less than a Division III victory is to fall short. The same standard will be held in place next Saturday.
