For the last three seasons the seniors of the Rensselaer men’s track and field team have only ended their year in one way, with a state championship. And in their final year as Engineers the class of 2005 refused to conclude their careers in any other way as they led RPI to its fourth consecutive New York State Collegiate Track Conference outdoor championship at the University of Rochester on May 7.
The Engineers, who finished with 160.50 points and easily defeated Liberty League rival and meet runner-up St. Lawrence’s 128.50 points, rallied on the second day of the two-day meet. RPI moved from third to first after winning seven of the meet’s final 15 events to post an amazing 129 points on Saturday and secure the title.
“As the second day went on we only got better,” Rensselaer Head Coach Colin Tory said. “We had this as our goal all year and the guys were not going to let anything get in their way.”
The men’s team also swept all the meet awards as Troy was named Coach of the Year while senior Trevor Tersmette received the Most Valuable Field Performer award and sophomore Kemar Brown was recognized as the Most Valuable Track Performer.
Tersmette propelled the Engineers into first place before the meet even started by winning the decathlon with a school record 6,610 points the previous weekend. Tersmette’s performance also qualified him the NCAA Championship meet. The Barneveld, N.Y. native was also stellar in the two-day meet taking first place in the high jump and 400-meter intermediate hurdles, third place in the long jump, and seventh place in the 110 high hurdles.
“People did better than they were supposed to do,” Tory commented. “Trevor was not supposed to win the 400 hurdles, but he just came out so strong and the field couldn’t respond.”
Tersmette’s determination appeared to seep down to the rest of the team as his classmates pitched in to guarantee they would complete their four year sweep. Jimmy Motzkin won the javelin and Joe Otto took second in the 800-meter and was the final leg on the first place 4x400-meter relay team. Seniors Owen Kellett, Jason Langley, and Sharath Alampur all had solid meets for the Engineers, scoring points in their respective events.
“They brought it to a different level,” Tory said of his seniors. “Their confidence is so strong. They knew how to get it done and it was great to see the way the younger guys respond to that attitude.”
However, Rensselaer elder classmen were not the only Engineers who contributed to the RPI victory. Brown took the top spot in the 100-meter and 200-meter sprints and was a member of the first place 4x100-meter relay. Fellow sophomore Brandon O’Toole finished third in the pole vault and junior Lance Chase took fourth and sixth in the discus and the shot put, respectively.
The state meet was not the end of what proved to be a phenomenal conclusion to the spring semester for Rensselaer. At the ECAC Championship meet on May 20 in Springfield, Mass., Otto, Motzkin, and Brown all gave standout performances. Otto took first in the 800-meter race, Motzkin was fourth in the javelin throw, and Brown was fifth in the 100-meter dash.
Tersmette, Brown, and Motzkin all qualified and participated for the NCAA Championship meet in Waverly, Iowa, May 26 through May 28. Tersmette received All-American status after taking fifth in the decathlon—breaking his own school record with 6,750 points. Brown and Motzkin did not reach the final heats in their respective events.
“Trevor was really happy, it was an incredible field,” Tory said of the decathlon competitors. The runner-up in the 2004 NCAA meet would not have even placed in the 10 person 2005 field. “The bigger the stage, the better he does. He thought he had done his best at the state meet, but he somehow managed to do better.”
The honors did not stop rolling in for the Engineers once their season finally came to a close. Rensselaer swept the Liberty League awards as Tersmette was named Co-field Performer of the Year, Brown was honored as Track Performer of the Year, Ben Nagler received the Rookie of the Year award, and Colin Tory and the RPI coaching staff earned the Coaching Staff of the Year honor.
“It is nice to see other people outside the program recognize our success,” Tory said. The Engineers were also named the Team of the Year by the Rensselaer Alumni Association and Tersmette was selected as the RPI Career Athlete.
“We used to be the best kept secret on campus,” Tory said of the men’s track and field program. “Trevor could have been our most improved player every year. He just got better every year.”
Alampur, Otto, and Tersmette all were selected to the ESPN the Magazine Academic All-District 1 College Division Track & Field/Cross Country First Teams, which made them all eligible for the National Academic All-American awards. On June 22 the three Engineers were officially named Academic All-American by ESPN the Magazine and the NCAA.
“It’s really satisfying,” Tory said of the academic awards. “Track is an addition to being a student and our athletes know that. We see improvement in our athletes every year and every semester. Being on the team seems to make them better students.”
The Engineers will lose eight players to graduation, but Tory is still excited about the team coming back, and sees no reason why they cannot repeat as state champions for a fifth straight season. The road ahead will be a bumpy one for RPI as SUNY Cortland joins the NYSCTC next season and a number of underclassmen will have to fill vital roles.
“That’s what keeps me going,” Tory said of hanging on to the state title. “It motivates me; it’s a great challenge. We have a great core coming back; we will be younger, but we have a great junior class.”
