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WHEATON, Mass. -- The Ephs bested nine New England teams,
including NESCAC rival Tufts, at the Wheaton Invitational on
Saturday. Their team score of 123 points topped 2nd place and host
school Wheaton College (112 points) as well as 3rd place Stonehill
(98) and 4th place Tufts (68). It was the Ephs first scoring meet
of the season and with some top athletes still recovering from
injury it was a satisfying win.
Last week it was Tomas Kearney '12 with the breakout performance
in the triple jump. Although Saturday's performance was not as
strong, Kearney still managed to earn a second place finish with
his jump of 13.38m. Isaac Nicholson '11 picked up where Kearney
left off, nabbing a 2nd in the long jump and a 3rd in the high jump
with a D-III qualifying effort of 1.89m. Johnny Ray Hinojosa '13
remains undefeated in his collegiate career; his pole vault of
4.27m was easily the best on Saturday. One early season
observation: "This year's jumping crew looks very strong. Further
down the road, the jumping unit has the potential to score a lot of
points in important championship meets."
If you remember back to the track & field season preview,
you will recall that Coach Brooks was especially excited about this
year's throws unit. The unit has not quite rounded into shape yet
as a whole, but Rusty Cowher '12 has started off the season with a
bang. Cowher finished second in both the shot put and the weight
throw, with both efforts good enough for D-III qualifers. He is
definitely an athlete to watch as he continues to improve at a
rapid clip.
Eph sprinters Taylor Fitzgerald '11 and Jabs Blyden '13 both ran
strong early season races in the 400, with both runners running
about 51 seconds. This time it was the freshman Blyden who would
take the intrasquad victory, with his 51.01 just a shoulder dip
better than Fitzgerald's 51.06. It should be noted, however, that
Fitzgerlad competed in three individual events on the day, the 55m,
the 400m, and the 200m. He would exact revenge on Blyden in the
200, with his 23.06 sec time earning a second place finish and
besting Blyden's fifth place time of 23.87. Fitzgerald narrowly
missed the 23.00 ECAC qualifier. The two teamed up to take home the
4 x 400 title in 3:26.80, also just missing an ECAC qualifier that
the Ephs will easily achieve further down the road.
Edgar Kosgey returned to his winning ways this weekend, with his
1:56.11 run in the 800 just .22 seconds better than Billy Hale of
Tufts. After battling injuries throughout last season, it's great
to see Kosgey winning races once again. While no other single
performances stand out, the mid-distance and distance crews were
solid for the Ephs, with consistent appearances in the top six.
Senior and captain Cullen Roberts and sophomore Anthony Raduazo
were 5th and 6th in the mile race, with both earning a ticket to
the D-III Championships. Freshman Brandon Abasolo was 5th in the
5000, running 15:46.
Next week the Ephs head to one of their fastest tracks on the
schedule, with Northeastern hosting at the Reggie Lewis Center in
Boston.
