The men's track and field team kicked off its outdoor season with two meets over spring break. On March 25, a limited squad traveled to West Point, N.Y., to compete at the Dick Shea Invite. This past weekend, the Bears took another partial roster to compete at the highly competitive Stanford Invitational in Palo Alto, Calif. While team scores were not tallied at either competition, Bruno posted top marks around the field and on the track, and multiple men qualified for the IC4A Championships in May.
"Obviously the goal of the trip was to get some great competition and great conditions so we could have great performances," said Director of Track and Field Craig Lake.
The Stanford Invite took entries not just from the top of the NCAA, but also from elite post-collegiate competitors. The extraordinary quality of the attending athletes led to fast times and personal bests for many of the Bears, despite the unseasonably chilly and wet West Coast weather.
On the infield, Grant Bowen '07 cleared a personal best 15 feet, 7 inches in the pole vault, moving the jumper to third all-time for Brown. Another jumper, Ikenna Achilihu '08, found early-season success in his forte, the triple jump, hitting 48 - 2-1/2.
Despite racing at almost 11 p.m. West Coast time, distance runner Chris Burke '07 continued his year of breakthrough performances, posting a time of 14:14 in the 5,000-meter run, good for second in his heat and seventh all-time for Bruno.
"The meet went really well," Burke said. "By and large it was a success, making the long trip worth it."
The mark was a personal best by 18 seconds and a mere four seconds off an NCAA Regional qualifying mark. "Chris has a lot of potential and can run even faster," Lake said. "He is truly talented and is putting in solid training, so I expect he can continue to run faster in the upcoming weeks."
Burke's time moves the harrier into solid position to once again score at the Heptagonal Championships.
"I know with a time like that I need to look at potentially taking the win in the 10-kilometer and being a threat to score in the 5k at Heps," Burke said.
Nick Neely '07, who competed in a different heat of the 5,000-meter event, also set a personal best, crossing in 14:25.
"Neely is running consistently well," Lake said. "Unfortunately, his race went out a little too fast, (and) learning pace is an important part of distance running. ... I am confident before the end of the year, Nick will go under 14:20."
While the cool weather aided the distance runners in their pursuit of fast times, "the rain made the throwing surfaces really slippery, as David Howard ('09) actually fell on one of his warm-up attempts," Lake said. "The throws squad got in good experience and is working on technique right now, and will be ready to go when it counts."
Despite the rain, a pair of throwers hit solid marks on the first day in Palo Alto. Kent Walls '06 threw for 174-1 in the hammer, and Paul Rosiak '07 marked 184-6 in the javelin. Walls won the discus the week prior at the Dick Shea Invite, throwing for 164-6.
"A lot of (the throwers) did well considering conditions, and some like Paul Rosiak are starting well ahead of where they began last year at this time," Lake said. "Paul threw 20 feet farther at this time compared to last year."
Back on the track, Jamil McClintock '08 qualified for the elite 110-meter hurdle finals with a preliminary time of 14.62. While McClintock already ranks in the top 10 for Bruno, the time was a significantly faster season-opener than in 2005. At West Point, two hurdlers made season debuts in the longer hurdles event, as Christian Tabib '07 and Will Bernitsky '07 were timed at 55.25 and 55.78, respectively.
Mike Pruzinsky '07 turned out a strong performance in the 200-meters in his outdoor opener in Palo Alto, clocking 21.77 in the half-lap event. Dallas Dissmore '06, the indoor Heptagonal champion in the 500-meters, opened his final outdoor campaign by posting 48.29 in the 400-meters.
The performances of Bowen, Achilihu, Burke, Neely, Walls, McClintock and Dissmore were Intercollegiate Association of Amateur Athletes of America qualifying marks.
Back in Providence, captain Jake Golenor '06 was recently released from the hospital after battling ulcerative colitis and mononucleosis for the past month. Though the senior thrower has returned to classes, the Heptagonal champion in the indoor shot put and outdoor discus will not likely be able to return to competition for the Bears.
"With Jake out, the distance men hope to step it up to fill the obvious loss of points," Burke said. "We only managed two points indoors, but look to secure a much larger number outdoors."
With less than five weeks until the Heptagonal Championships, the Bears will "continue to train hard for the next three to four weeks before tapering," Lake said. "We have a lot of talent and a lot of people who are willing to work hard and make the necessary sacrifices, which are all the right ingredients for a potential Ivy League Championship team. A little luck cannot hurt either, of course."
The Bears will field a full roster for the first time this season this weekend against the University of Connecticut at the Huskies' Greer Field House in Storrs, Conn.
