The top individual finisher for the Jeffs was Nathaniel Mahlberg '05, who competed in both the 400 high and 110 sprint hurdles. Mahlberg, who has been a consistent strength for the Jeffs all season, finished in fourth place in the 400. In the 110-meter hurdles, he was just as successful, grabbing a fifth place finish, while breaking the freshman record with his time of 15.28 seconds. "Nathaniel definitely had a couple of strong races in the hurdles," said co-captain Jacob Cooper '02.
Janak Chandrasoma '04 and Brian Hart '03 each grabbed eighth place in the 200m dash and the 400m event, respectively.
But Amherst proved strongest in the relay events. The Jeffs took fourth and fifth places in the 4x400 and 4x100, respectively. Chandra-soma and Hart contributed to both of these wins, while rookie sprinters Mahlberg, Jay Wagstaff '05, Jack Morgan '05 and Matt Monteith '05 ran the remaining legs.
Although there were no top finishes for the distance runners, the plethora of personal and season best times stood as a testament to the group's hard work and training over the past few weeks.
In the challenging steeplechase event, Alex Lenkoski '03 put in a strong performance and finished in 12th place with a time of 10:23.87.
Both Andy Schneider '04 and Cooper lowered their season fastest times in the 800 meter run. Schneider broke the two minute barrier with a time of 1:59.25 and Cooper finished shortly after in 2:00.50.
In the field events, W. G. Roe '04 threw the shot put to a season best distance of 11.21m.
Unfortunately, Williams College controlled the championship overall, taking first or second place in nearly every running event. The final results gave Williams a dominating victory with 216 points. Coming in far behind in second and third were Bowdoin College and Tufts University.
Next up for the Jeffs is the NCAA Division III New England Championships, which will be held on Saturday at nearby Springfield College.