The men's track team plowed through the nine-team field to finish second at the University of Connecticut Saturday despite the cold temperatures and whipping winds. The Bears, with 105 points, posted a stellar second-place finish behind the hometown Huskies and just clear of the University of Rhode Island at 97.
"It is our goal to get tougher and more competitive," said Director of Track and Field Craig Lake. "So this weekend, even in bad conditions, it was good to see some solid performances. Times in some of the events were out the window, as it was cold and windy, which affects the distance events a great deal."
Despite the skewed times, many standout feats peppered the day. Sean O'Brien '09 picked up a win in the 800-meter run with a time of 1:55.16 and was followed closely by Christian Tabib '07, who logged a fourth-place finish in the event in 1:57.10. Kevin Cervantes '10 also placed fourth in his race, the 400-meter run, in 50.79 seconds. Matthew Jasmin '09 had a third-place finish in the 110-meter hurdles in a time of 15.43 seconds.
Brown fared well in the longer running events as well. Duriel Hardy '10 blazed to a fourth-place finish in the 1,500-meter run with a time of 4:01.75. Nick Sarro '08 had a big day in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, racing to a first-place finish despite having no competition in sight pushing him to his 9:22.99 time. The next closest finisher was teammate Neil Hamel '07 at 9:47.63. Jacob Nettleton '08 had a bronze in the 5,000-meter run in 15:21.96.
In the field, Mike Woods '09 placed third in the pole vault, soaring to a height of 14-feet 5.25-inches. Bryan Powlen '10 pulled double duty on the day, placing third in the shot put with a 51-foot 6.25-inch throw and second in the discus with a 148-foot 9-inch toss. Sam Urlacher '09 grabbed third in the javelin, throwing 174-2.
Although the times were not indicative of the team's talent, Lake said, the team will put in more work between now and the end of the year.
"In terms of the season, we have less than four weeks to go to prepare for the Ivy League Championships, which is the only important team meet for the season," Lake said. "This is the pinnacle and main focus for us as a team."
A pit-stop on that journey will be the home-opener this weekend at the Brown Invitational. The Bears will also relish another rare perk - home field advantage.
"It is always nice to have meets at home because we don't need to travel far and can get some extra rest," Tabib said. "The goal is to improve on what we have been doing all season."
