Men
The men certainly started their season off on the right foot. The top finisher was senior Dave "Flea" Schreiner who placed second in the 10,000-meter race in 34:09. Amherst placed three men in the top 10 finishers of the 5,000-meter race, with juniors Robert Boley, John Babbott and Richard Wilson taking home respective fourth-, sixth- and seventh-place finishes. Boley's time in the event, 15:41, was a new personal record and certainly an auspicious start to the season for him.
Another strong performance was given by tri-captain Sam Hayman '07, who finished 15th in the 1,500-meter race with a new personal record of 4:10, and crossed the line in seventh in the subsequent 800-meter race.
After missing the indoor season due to a semester abroad, junior Jon Ettinger proved that he has not lost any speed. Ettinger won his heat in the 400-meter race for a 12th-place overall finish, followed by a strong eighth place in the 200-meter.
"Having missed indoor track after coming back from abroad, I was a little worried about what kind of results I could muster," said Ettinger. "[But] I went out hard and managed to nip the late frontrunner in my heat to the line in a [personal record] of 51.95."
Senior tri-captain Tim Porter ran to ninth place in the 400-meter hurdles, while having the misfortune of being in the middle of his race when a torrential downpour started and delayed the rest of the meet for 45 minutes.
In the field events, senior co-captain Nick Canevari started the meet with a 10th-place finish in the javelin event and he also grabbed seventh in the discus. In his first-ever track meet, sophomore Brian Lewis nabbed 14th in the javelin.
Women
The women got their day started with a sweep of the first five places in the 10,000, as Kim Partee '08, Heather Wilson '08, Nicole Anderson '09, Katie Moravec '08 and Laura Mortimer '08 took turns in the lead but finished first through fifth, respectively.
"Amherst approached the 10k as a tempo run in order to get a good feel for the track and the distance," said Partee. "The girls all worked great together, and now we are confident in entering the rest of the season and putting forth some fast times in the distance events.
Junior Shauneen Garrahan led a wave of purple in the 5,000, as Zandra Walton '09, Elise Tropiano '09, Meg Ray '08 and Liz Dalton '09 all secured spots in the top 10 with fourth-, sixth-, eighth- and 10th-place finishes, respectively.
The Jeffs had additional outstanding performances in the middle-distance events, with Garrahan and senior tri-captain Ginger Polich grabbing sixth and seventh places in the 1500 with Polich shattering her personal record. Polich returned to the track to place third in the 800, with rookie Caitlin McDermott-Murphy crossing the finish line five seconds later in eighth place.
The women also fared well in the 400-meter as all three Amherst runners placed in the top 10. Carly Levenson '09 won her heat to place fifth overall, while tri-captain Julia Rucker '06 and junior Hannah Campbell also had excellent results in their respective seventh- and ninth-place finishes. Maria Millard '08 and Kate Silverman '09 brought home third- and fourth-place finishes in the 400-meter hurdles, despite the onslaught of rain and puddles on the track.
The 200-meter race also saw many purple jerseys cross the finish line in fast times, as Campbell, Jenny Mancino '09, Levenson and Rucker brought home fifth-, sixth-, ninth- and 11th-place finishes. In addition, rookies Kathryn Loomis and Molly Priedeman both finished in the the top 20.
Last, but not least, Millard, Mancino and Priedeman represented Amherst well in the field events. Millard and Mancino grabbed seventh and ninth, respectively in the high jump at the beginning of the day, as Priedeman took eighth in the long jump.
Despite the many fine first performances of the seasons for Amherst last Saturday, Head Coach Erik Nedeau predicts that both teams will only get faster and stronger as the season progresses. "I think that our meet this weekend will be a lot better just because of everyone having had the chance to see where they were at, and know what needs to get done," said Nedeau.
The Jeffs are ready to prove that even a little rain cannot slow them down this season, as they strive for new personal bests in their events. Both teams will head to the Williams College Relays on Saturday at 10 a.m. with the benefit of knowing exactly what they need to do to accomplish their goals this season.
NESCAC Notes
Runners from Trinity and Connecticut College competed against the Jeffs last Saturday. Next weekend, the Jeffs will compete against Williams, Middlebury College and other non-conference foes in the Williams Relays.