News Briefs
Wrestling Places Ninth at RWU Tournament
With every MIT wrestler winning at least one match, the Engineers came through with one of their best opening day outings of the last decade at the annual Roger Williams University Tournament last weekend. The Cardinal and Gray finished ninth out of 11 teams with a score of 55, beating out Norwich University (54) and Worcester Polytechnic Institute (35.5).
Individually, “this was our best performance in seven years [in this tourney],” said Wrestling Head Coach Thomas E. Layte. “Every guy won at least one match.”
Returning from a strong rookie campaign in which he was named to the Pilgrim League All-Star Team, Joseph B. Silverman ’10 finished fourth in the tournament in the “toughest” weight class of 184 pounds, Layte said. The coach also lauded Glenn J. Geesman ’09, who won his first career tournament at 285 pounds, with Sean D. Jameson ’10 placing second by default.
Travis C. Samuel ’08, meanwhile, picked up his first win of the season. “Travis is a four-year wrestler who has made great improvements each year,” Layte said.
Also contributing were Kenzan Tanabe ’11 and Grant M. Kadokura ’11, who won their first ever college matches.
Bridgewater State College and Rhode Island College shared the title with a score of 139. They were followed by University of Southern Maine (131.5), Johnson and Wales University (125.5), and host RWU (115). MIT was nine points below eighth place finisher Western New England College.
—Mike Stoller, DAPER Staff
Sailors Finish 11th At Atlantic Coast Championships
The MIT sailors recovered from a 14th-place slot on Saturday to finish 11th overall at the Co-ed Atlantic Coast Championships last weekend. Tech’s remarkable effort on Sunday enabled the Engineers to close another fall season on a high note at Eckerd College.
With sunny skies beaming down on the 18 entries, the Cardinal and Gray took to the perfect second day conditions, with winds starting light and building to a steady east-to-northeast breeze of 8–12 knots.
A-team skipper John M. “Jack” Field ’08 and crew Julie C. Arsenault ’08 fiercely dug MIT out of a hole by finishing second, ninth, and seventh in rounds 10, 11, and 12, respectively. Overall, five rounds were raced on Sunday, with MIT’s top duo finishing 10th and 11th in the other two.
The A team’s second best ranking was a fifth-place mark in the third round when Field teamed with Elizabeth A. Hass ’10 on Saturday. But the Engineers couldn’t crack the top 10 in the other seven first-day jousts.
Hass, meanwhile, made her mark as crew in the B circuit, teaming with strong skipper Brooks L. Reed ’09 to finish with two crucial top-five placements during Sunday’s late rounds. While the lower group didn’t fare as well on Saturday, Reed and Karlen E. Ruleman ’09 finished at the top of the board in the third race.
Boston College won the title with a score of 180.
MIT sailing will resume competition in the Sharpe Trophy on March 1, 2008 in Providence, R.I.
—Mike Stoller, DAPER Staff
Women’s Cross Country Secures Highest Finish Ever at NCAA Regional
Saturday’s NCAA Division III New England Regional Cross Country Championship yielded mixed results for the MIT program. After a season filled with some of the best performances in team history and a constant presence in the national rankings, the Engineers missed becoming the first squad in Institute history to qualify for the national meet. Despite the less-than-ideal finish, MIT easily set a school record for the best result in the New England Regional with a seventh place finish out of 47 teams.
The women were not at their best entering Saturday’s meet as injuries and fatigue hampered the Engineers’ ability to build on the early-season success. MIT’s scoring delta of 1:13 was its worst of the season.
Elizabeth M. Finn ’09, who has come on strong in the last half of the campaign, became the fourth runner in program history to qualify individually for the NCAA Championships. Finn split 22:22 over the 6,000-meter course to finish 20th overall out of 344 finishers. Her team-leading performance topped her 22nd-place finish in 2005 and served as the highest finish by an MIT harrier at the meet since 1998.
Unfortunately for the rest of the team, the final results were not as strong. Maria J. Monks ’10, who established herself as MIT’s clear No. 1 all season, missed qualifying for NCAAs for the second consecutive year after falling back to 38th place. Monks finished with a time of 22:45, although the second-year runner was among the top six after the first mile.
Kathryn A. Gordon ’11 turned in the seventh-best performance by a rookie after crossing the line 54th with a time of 23:07. Jennifer A. Doyle ’09 (81st) and Adrienne M. Bolger ’09 (89th) capped MIT’s scoring as the Engineers bested their previous best finish of 11th place at the 1994 NCAA New England Regionals.
—James Kramer, DAPER Staff
Men’s Cross Country Team Falls Just Short of National Berth at NCAA Regional
MIT men’s cross country fell decisively short in its bid to capture its first NCAA Division III New England Regional Championship, finishing sixth out of 47 teams in a fast-paced 8000-meter circuit on Saturday. The Engineers managed an impressive team delta of 32 seconds between No. 1–5 but missed qualifying for nationals as a team by 13 total points.
MIT, which extended its streak of top seven finishes at the NCAA Regional to nine years, started out well with seven runners in the top 25 midway through the race. A combination of challenges, including hamstring cramps endured by speedster Jeremiah R. “Yermie” Cohen ’09 and an unfortunate series of knock-downs against Jacob J. Ruzevick ’09, knocked MIT from its strong position early in the race.
Joseph D. Roy-Mayhew ’08, who worked his way toward the top group by the four-mile mark, enjoyed the best race of the day for the Engineers and finished 18th overall with a time of 25:15. Ruzevick closed just back in 20th at 25:18.
Trevor B. Rundell ’09 finished 34th overall after crossing the line in 25:34, while Hemagiri Arumugum ’10 (43rd) and Cohen (48th) rounded out the MIT scoring.
—James Kramer, DAPER Staff
Crew Novices Tackle Belly of the Carnegie
Crews from all four MIT squads traveled to Princeton, N.J. to race in the Belly of the Carnegie, a freshman-only regatta, for the first time on Sunday.
The men’s lightweight novices placed 16th out of 25 teams, and the men’s heavyweight novices placed 11th out of 22 teams.
Unlike the men’s competitions that hold weight class-specific races, the women’s race pits openweights and lightweights against each other in the same event.
Women’s openweight finished 11th of 24 teams. The novice lightweight women finished 17th of 24, edging the only other lightweight crew in the field, from Georgetown University, by 2.2 seconds.
“I think we accomplished what we came down here to do,” said Aaron Benson, novice coach for women’s openweight crew. “We lost to some fast crews, but we were in the top half of a field filled with Sprints schools that have strong rowing traditions. Now we just get to have fun finishing the fall season on our home course next weekend at the Foot of the Charles.”
Complete results are available at http://www.row2k.com/results/.
—James Kramer, DAPER Staff