With a week of a more "normal" schedule-consisting of classes and one practice a day-the team got into a rhythm while resting their bodies. Cutting down on practice time, the strength and speed built from the two-a-day practices was evident. The relaxed atmosphere culminated with the opportunity to sleep in before the meet, which took place at nearby Smith. "The flatness of last week was not as apparent, meaning that the back off of work load in training and a return to normal patterns has been beneficial," said Head Coach Erik Nedeau. "We had some great times posted by individuals and relays."
Even though the teams focused on reaching personal records and Div. III cuts, the women's team still ended up in second place, and the men came in fifth. Williams College-whose roster boasts 56 men and 50 women-while only 27 men and 26 women form the Jeff ranks-was victorious in both meets.
Men
It was safe to bet that at the front of any distance race there was a sea of purple and white, as the Jeffs owned their competition in the longer races. Junior Rich Wilson led a contingent of Amherst runners in the 5,000-meter run, winning in 15:51.63. Junior Rob Boley came in third, trailed by first-year Peter Foote, who ran a terrific race and destroyed his personal record by nearly two minutes.
Amherst went 1-2 in the 3,000-meter run, as Tomas Morrissey '08 continued on his tear at that distance, topping classmate Mike Harbus, who nabbed a personal record by 10 seconds. Junior co-captain Sam Hayman left the field in the dust, winning the 600-meter run by three seconds, and returning from injury, first-year Jack Kiley won the 1,000-meter run.
Hayman and Kiley joined junior John Babbott and sophomore Basile Beaty to capture the 4x800-meter relay crown. Babbott also ran a strong 4:29.69 mile, good for fourth place. In the 800-meter run, Beaty finished fifth in a time of 1:59.58. The 4x400-meter relay team of seniors Dave Schreiner and co-captain Tim Porter and sophomores Steve Shashy and David Pechman came in third.
Women
Sophomore Heather Wilson and first-year Zandra Walton continued their excellent seasons by both turning in first-place finishes, as well as contributing to a relay win. Wilson ran a personal best 5:07.97 for the win in the mile, and Walton finished the 600 in first with a time of 1:39.35. Along with senior co-captain Ginger Polich and first-year Caitlin McDermott-Murphy, they crossed the tape first in the 4x800 relay.
Finishing after Wilson in the mile were first-years Elise Tropiano in fifth and Nicole Anderson in sixth. Tropiano's time was also a new personal record. A large Amherst crowd followed Walton in the 600, despite delays in the meet that forced the women to warm-up twice and disrupt their pre-race rituals. Polich finished second, with junior Maria Millard trailing her in fourth place. First-years Carly Levenson and Kate Silverman also finished in the top 10, coming in sixth and eighth, respectively.
Millard and Levenson also contributed to the other relay win for the women's team, as they teamed with junior Hannah Campbell and first-year Jenny Mancino to claim victory the 4x400 relay. In the 4x200-meter relay, senior co-captain Julia Rucker, Silverman, Mancino and Campbell crossed the finish line in second.
In the longer distance races, the women grabbed a pair of silver finishes, as well as some personal records. McDermott-Murphy got second in the 1,000, and the 3,000 was a terrific race for three Amherst runners. Sophomore Kim Partee was the top Amherst finisher with a second-place finish, followed closely by first-year Liz Dalton and sophomore Katie Moravec in third and fourth place, respectively. All three runners recorded personal bests in the race. In the hurdles, first-year Kathryn Loomis finished in seventh place, coming very close to a Div. III qualifying mark.
The majority of the team travels to Wesleyan University on Saturday, while some select runners will travel to Boston University for the Fast Track Invitational on both Friday and Saturday. It should be interesting to see the runners' improvement in times with another week of single practices under their belt, as well as participating in a better organized meet.
These meets should set the bar for the upcoming championship meets and provide a preview of how some runners will fare. "We have one more regular season meet before we head into the championships and things seem to be falling into place nicely for championship success," said Nedeau.