The individual highlight of the women's meet came from first-year harrier Shauneen Garrahan, who qualified provisionally for the NCAA Championships with a spectacular second-place finish in the 1500m. With a time of 4:40.21, Garrhan's run also broke a College record. "Shauneen's second place in the 1500 was one of the most exciting races of the meet as she and an Ithaca College All-American ran stride-for-stride during the last lap of the race," said senior tri-captain Helen Dole.
However, Garrahan was not the only Amherst runner to achieve success at Tufts. "It was a very successful day overall for the women's team as we came away with a lot of first-, second- and third-place finishes at a meet that featured several highly competitive schools," said Dole.
Carter Hamill '05 finished the 1500m a few runners behind Garrahan in fourth place. A win in the 3000m race later in the meet added to her impressive collection of wins on the indoor season, with teammate Erinn White '04 finishing the same race in sixth place.
A first-place win from the 4x800m relay team of Monica Westin '05, Dole, senior tri-captain Aly Venti and Garrahan also stood out for the Jeffs. The quartet crossed the finish line over 15 seconds in front of Tufts' runner-up team. Earlier in the day, Dole ran an impressive 1000m, placing second and setting a new personal record.
Lee-Jay Henry '05 slowly but surely eased back into the sprint competitions after returning from time off due to an injury. "[Henry] looked unstoppable in the first 150 meters of her 200-meter dash race, and the endurance for the rest of the race will come soon as she continues to improve from her reconstructive knee surgery," said Dole.
Although there were no first-place finishes on the men's side, many Jeffs ran outstanding races to earn points for the team by placing second or third. David Schreiner '06 led the team with a second-place finish in the 5000m, where he impressively lowered his personal record by nearly 20 seconds. "David 'Flea' Schreiner had a breakthrough performance in the 5000m," said tri-captain Janak Chandrasoma '04. "He drafted off of a very talented Wesleyan runner, and then showed his strength in the last mile and hung [the Wesleyan runner] out to dry."
David Molina '05 grabbed third in his very first 1000m race, while first-year John Babbott placed eighth in the same race in an earlier heat.
"Babbott ran a gutsy 1000m, leading his heat out fast from the get-go and maintaining that position for a wire-to-wire win," said Chandrasoma.
Jack Morgan '05 finished third in the 600m event before joining the sixth-place 4x400m relay team alongside Joaquin Walker '05, Sam Hayman '07 and Chandrasoma.
Billy McNitt '06 placed ninth in both the 1000m and 1500m. He also set new personal bests for both races. "McNitt had, and is having, a breakthrough season as well," said Chandrasoma. "He has posted a personal best in almost every meet he's run this year, and is developing into a fine runner and a contributing factor to the team."
The men's and women's teams will travel to the Boston area again this weekend for a pair of meets. On the women's side, Venti, Hamill and Garrahan will compete at the Valentine Classic at Boston University on Friday, and some of the men will race at BU's Fast Track Invitational on Saturday. The rest of the indoor track team will participate in the Tufts Stampede on Saturday.