Men's Track
During the indoor track season, the men's distance medley relay squad of tri-captain Jack Morgan '05, Mike Page '05, John Babbott '07 and Sam Hayman '07 garnered All-America honors with their third-place finish at the NCAA Div. III Championships, and they will look to repeat their fine work out of doors.
The men's strength and depth will undoubtedly lie in the middle- and long-distance events this season. "The men will be led by Jack Morgan and Mike Page-both of whom should make Nationals in numerous events including the 5,000-meter for both, the 800-meter for Jack and the steeplechase for Mike," said Head Coach Erik Nedeau. "We had some distance guys who really started to turn things on during the end of the indoor season, and that should bode well for a strong outdoor season."
Nevertheless, Nedeau expects fine performances from the rest of the team. "We will be pretty strong in the middle- and long-distance areas, but may surprise some people in the throwing events as well," added Nedeau. Juniors Nick Canevari and L.J. Spinnato will be throwing for the Lord Jeffs again this season. Meanwhile, Joaquin Walker '05, tri-captain Tim Porter '06, Jon Ettinger '07 and Geoff Stricsek '07 will lead the sprinters.
Women's Track
Many key members of the women's indoor team will return to the track, with a few seasonal runners bolstering the already-strong team.
After racking up 16 All-America awards to date, senior co-captain Carter Hamill shows no signs of slowing down as she heads into the home stretch of her College career. Fellow All-America runner Shauneen Garrahan '07 will return to the track after she takes a short break following a second-place finish in the mile at the NCAA Div. III Indoor Championships on March 12.
In the distance events, the usual runners will be back, including many first-years who now have two seasons of college racing under their belts, including Heather Wilson, who had a victory in the 5,000-meter during the indoor season. In addition, Margaret Davis '06 will compete again in the distance events, while classmates Krissy Morin and Ginger Polich will look to qualify for Nationals in the heptathlon.
Nedeau predicts that the women's team will do at least as well as it did during its exceptional indoor season. "The bigger the meet, the better that we will do as the smaller numbers that we have do not play as much of a factor when the quality takes over," he said. "We are hoping to finish in the top three again at the Div. III New England Championships, and then, looking at the end of the road, we're hoping to finish in the top four again at the NCAA Div. III Championships and add a couple more individual National Championships to the collection."
The outdoor track team's debut, originally scheduled for this Saturday, has been postponed until April 2 at Trinity College's Bantam Invitational. The Jeffs' only home meet of the season will be onApril 23 when they host the Little Three Championships.