Track looks to start season on right foot
By Jane Sung, Senior Staff Writer
Indoor track appears primed to have a solid winter season, led by key returning athletes as well as some promising first-years. Seniors Janak Chandrasoma, Andrew Schneider and Julius Nanna will guide the men's team, while on the women's side, seniors Aly Venti and Helen Dole will join Monica Westin '05 as captains.

The women's team posted strong results at last year's NCAA Indoor National Championships, as several school records were broken and All-American honors were awarded. The distance medley relay team of Kate Hamill '03, Lyndsey Scott '06, Jessamyn Connell-Price '06 and Carter Hamill '05 finished in seventh place, earning All-American honors, while breaking the school record. After running in this relay, Carter Hamill also went on to take sixth place in the 5000-meter the next day, collecting her sixth All-American Honor. "The highlight of the team last year was the women's distance medley relay. With only Kate graduating of the four of them, I expect that they will be a strong contender for the national crown," said Venti.

While Venti also sees potential in new teammates, she hopes that the women's team will be able to increase its depth. "Freshman Shauneen Garrahan '07 had a spectacular cross country season and will be a nice addition to the team this year. Our major hurdle as a team will be our depth-we aren't a very large team and lack numbers, especially in the field events. But standouts such as Carter [Hamill], Shauneen [Garrahan], Erinn White '04, Lyndsey [Scott] and Jessamyn [Connell-Price] will definitely make their mark this season," Venti said.

Although the men did not make it to the NCAAs last season, they had a great performance at the ECACs at Tufts University. Schneider and John Stanton-Geddes '04 both set personal records with fifth place finishes in the 1000-meter and 1500-meter, respectively.

Because of the large number of incoming runners last year, the men worked on developing speed. "Last year was a strong building year for the sprinters, with a lot of new, budding talent," Chandrasoma said.

This abundance of bodies will only lead to positive results for the men this year. "We hope to have very strong performances this year, both for indoors as well as in the spring. We also have the makings of a rockin' DMR (distance medley relay). Our 4x400 relay shows a lot of depth and promise, and we hope to have a couple new people step up and fill some shoes," said Chandrasoma.

The indoor track team will start their season off at the Husky Carnival held at Northeastern University this Saturday. "Our team looks very strong this year," Dole said. "The sprinters and jumpers who do not do fall sports have been training on their own most of the fall and with the coaches since November, so they should go into this weekend's meet with a lot of confidence in their training."

Issue 13, Submitted 2003-12-03 13:17:47