"I felt good after the meet on Saturday as many of the women ran very well," said Head Coach Eric Nedeau, "and I think this improvement will continue as we begin to drop mileage and run more speed-oriented workouts."
One highlight of the day was the women's distance medley relay of Rebecca Woo '02, tri-captain Amie Shei '02, Laurel Kilgour '03 and Carter Hamill '05. The fast-paced group set a new school record with a time of 12:33, shattering the old record by over 30 seconds.
In typical form, Hamill also cruised to victory in the two mile event with a time of 11:09.07. She was followed by teammates Erinn White '04, Alison Dimon '03 and Alison Rodriguez '05, who finished second, fourth and sixth, respectively.
Due to the laid-back atmosphere of the meet, even a male Amherst alumni made an appearance in the women's two mile race. Former captain Brian Gillis '01, ran a very good time but still could not manage to catch the All-American Hamill.
After qualifying provisionally for Nationals in the 10,000m run last week, tri-captain Emily Lobsenz '02 continued her string of strong races with an easy win in the shorter 5,000m event with a time of 18:46.4.
Woo and Alyson Venti '04 represented Amherst well in the 1500m by finishing in fourth and sixth place with times of 4:49.55 and 4:53.29, respectively.
In the middle distance portion of the meet, Kilgour and Kate Hamill '03 placed fifth and sixth in a very competitive field of the 800m, while senior tri-captain Annie Perez '02 followed close behind.
Sprinter Lee-Jay Henry '04 had another outstanding day, competing in the 100m hurdles for the first time and capturing second place with a blistering time of 15.5 seconds. She also finished third in the triple jump. Also posting excellent times on the day, Shei placed third in both the 200m and 400m, with times of 27.61 and 60.42 respectively.
Most women ran multiple relays in addition to their usual individual events last Saturday. "Since there are so many relays, this is a meet where the team aspects of track really shine," said Perez. "I was very impressed with everyone's enthusiasm and strength."
Next Saturday will feature the much-anticipated Little III competition against rivals Williams and Wesleyan University. The meet, which is scheduled to begin at noon at the Amherst track, will be the first home meet in over a year.
The Little IIIs meet marks the conclusion of the regular season and the beginning of the exciting championship season, which culminates with the NCAA Division III National Championships.