Coming off of a strong meet the previous weekend at Trinity College and a long week of training, most members of the men's team weren not sure what to expect, especially with some running up to five events at Williams. However, a number of extremely impressive performances, both on the track and in the jumping pit, erased any doubts.
The sprinters had yet another impressive showing both in the individual events and relays. Greg Baker '01 had an exhausting but successful day, finishing second in the 100m, fifth in the 200m and competing in three relays.
Perhaps the most remarkable performance of the day came from runner Jacob Cooper '02 who took fifth in the 800m (2:02.28), smashing his personal best. Head Coach Erik Nedeau had only praise for him, saying, "He is a competitor and comes to race every single weekend. His results back that up."
The distance runners had their moments as well in the 1500m and 5000m races. John Stanton-Geddes '04 enjoyed yet another successful outing in the 1500m, finishing third.
The heart and soul of any track meet are the relay events. The competition was that much more hyped up when Williams stood poised one lane over, waiting for the gun to go off. But the Jeffs thrived under pressure. The 4x200m team of Janak Chandrasoma '04, Baker, Brian Hart '03 and Jared Moshe '01 set the school record with a time of 1:30.82. The 4x400m team also fared well, grabbing second place. "I was very pleased with the 4x400 team as they raced extremely strongly after a long day of racing," said Nedeau, who attributed part of this surprising speed to the competition. "They always seem to dig a little deeper when they toe the line against Williams."
The women's team also found themselves making great strides toward a top-notch performance this year in the postseason.
The climax of the meet was the win in the distance medley relay, the women's only win of the day. The Jeff team of Alyson Venti '04, Annie Perez '02, Helen Dole '04 and Rebecca Woo '02 set a new school record of 13:06.4.
In other track events, the 800m saw three Amherst runners finish close to each other. Woo ran her best time of the season and was followed closely by Hamill and Dole.
The Jeffs also had success in the middle- and long-distance events. In her best time of the season, Venti finished fourth in the 1500m (4:56.70). Emily Lobsenz '02 was the top Amherst finisher in the 5K.
In the field events, the women also saw tremendous improvement. Alison Stahl '03 finished third in the long jump (15-11). Dole was all over the track again this week for her preparation to compete in the heptathlon. She also competed in the shotput (20-04) and the high jump.
The men's and women's track teams next head back to Williams for the Little IIIs, a continuation of the long standing rivalry between Amherst, Williams and Wesleyan University. The rivalry, though real, has become very friendly over the years.
"Little IIIs should be an exciting meet for the team. It's somewhat hard for us to compete at the level of Wesleyan and Williams just in terms of numbers. But we are looking forward to the good competition and the friendly Little III rivalries," said Tri-captain Amie Shei '02.