Men’s Track Undefeated, Earns Ninth NEWMAC Team Title
CORRECTION TO THIS ARTICLE: The Feb. 16 sports headline “Men’s Track Undefeated, Earns Ninth NEWMAC Team Title,” incorrectly stated that the men’s indoor track team won the NEWMAC championship. There is no such championship for indoor track.
This past Saturday, the men’s track and field team completed their first undefeated indoor season in four years. The Engineers, despite having only 5 seniors, excelled this season because of multi-event athletes, depth in distance and field events, and a strong freshman class.
After the cross country team’s ninth consecutive New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference championship, it is no surprise that the 3000 and 5000 meter races were among the Engineers’ top events. The distance runners, led by Jake J. Ruzevick ’09 and Joseph D. Roy-Mayhew ’08, consistently scored at the top of their events. Along with the other distance runners, Ruzevick and Roy-Mayhew usually threatened to sweep their events.
The Engineers have also shown individual strength in the middle distance events with Matthew F. Bieniosek ’08, Jeremiah R. Cohen ’09, and William B. Fedus ’10 taking the top places in their events.
One of the greatest strengths of the MIT team is depth in the field events. In the horizontal jumps, veterans Christopher B. Bateman ’07 and Anthony D. Teixeira ’08 led the way with numerous personal bests throughout the season.
Stephen A. Morton ’10, who set freshman records this year in the 200 meter dash and triple jump, also contributed many points to the Engineers. Other major contributors of points include pole-vaulter and hurdler Omari S. Stephens ’08 (also a Tech photographer) and thrower James R. Oleinik ’09.
Today, the Engineers travel to Bates College in Lewiston, Maine to battle for the New England Division III Championship title. In the championship history, MIT currently has the most top three finishes and the second most first place finishes.