Women
Three runners, however, stood out, and with good reason. Thanks to training from the cross country season, tri-captain Shauneen Garrahan '07, Kim Partee '08 and Heather Wilson '08 were all in excellent running shape and finished in first, second and fourth place respectively in the 5,000-meter run. Garrahan and Partee's top-two finishes qualified each provisionally for the Div.III Indoor National Championships, one of the main reasons each competed Saturday.
Despite an injury-hampered finish to the cross country season, Garrahan felt like her old self again on Saturday. Partee is currently nursing a sore shin, but, according to Garrahan, she "is one of, if not the toughest runners I know. Although I'm sure she was hurting, Kim was able to fight through her pain with pure determination to run a provisional qualifying time in the 5k."
While the cross country runners were used to racing and set the bar high for the rest of the team, the sprinters were generally happy with their showing on Saturday as well. "The first race is normally pretty rusty," said sprinter and tri-captain Maria Millard '07. "According to our coach, our 4x400-meter relay had the fastest start to a season he'd seen in 10 years … Unlike a lot of the Div. III schools [that were there on Saturday], we've only had a few weeks of training. I really think we held our own."
Millard led the sprinters, finishing third in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:22.77: clearly a strong start to her final year at Amherst. Her goals for the indoor and outdoor track seasons, however, center mainly around the team. "I would like to have a 4x400 team go to Nationals," she said. "I really think we have a good shot."
Millard also was extremely impressed and excited by some of the younger runners, particularly first-year Mary Doris Reggie, who finished 12th in the 1,000-meter run. "Her race was the highlight of the day for me," said Millard. "She ran a really smart race, drafting off of a couple girls before sprinting ahead. The way she raced takes a lot of maturity-something you don't often see in first-years."
Much like the Jeffs' relatively rusty times, team unity is not where everyone would like it quite yet either. As Garrahan put it, "Up until this point, it's been hard to get to know each other very well since people have been on different training schedules, the sprinters and distances runners have been practicing separately, and there's a large first-year class." Millard concurred, stressing how, even after only a few weeks, the Jeffs are far more cohesive than the team she was on at Cornell University during her first year. "I think [the] Amherst indoor team] has divisions, but they're natural divisions," she said. "For the most part, we're a pretty united team. As in the past, we are planning on really bonding as a team over Interterm when we practice twice a day."
Men
The men's day was highlighted by strong performances from some of the team's younger runners. Sophomore Steve Stewart finished 10th in the 800-meter, in addition to helping the Jeffs' 4x400-relay to finish 10th. First-year Keith Pendergrass had a promising first meet, finishing the 500-meter run in under 70 seconds. Ben Klein '10 also ran well, setting a personal record in the mile race with a time of 4:38.39. Thomas Foote '09, a newcomer to the team, ran a strong first race, finishing the 800 in 2:03.
Tri-captain Steve Shashy '08 was satisfied with the showing. "We clearly have room for improvement, but last weekend was a very solid starting point for the season," he said.
He also seconded Garrahan's opinion that team unity is going to improve as the season progresses. "We are building a sense of the overall team performances, which helps us feel more like a team," observed Shashy. As he also pointed out, the season has barely begun. It is difficult to predict where the team will be in a couple of months, but the goal remains the same for both the men and women. In Shashy's words: "Qualify as many people as far as possible."
Saturday's meet was, for much of the team, a "competitive practice" in Millard's opinion. The Jeffs do not race again until Jan. 13 when they take on Tufts University. In the meantime, the team will work on shaking off the remaining cobwebs and hopefully, in the process, pull closer together as a team.