Instead, the Jeffs were in top form, as a number of runners posted both personal-best and championship-qualifying times. This was in spite of the fact that they were running against tough teams in Div. I, II and III competition.
Men
Friday's meet was a success for rookies and veterans alike. First-year Thomas Anderson qualified in the 1,000-meter run for both the New England and ECAC Championships. On the other end of the age spectrum, senior tri-captain John Babbott finished 26th in the mile, running a personal-best time of 4:15:42. His time was unfortunately just shy of the NCAA provisional qualifying standard.
The next day, Babbott also helped the men's distance medley relay team made up of fellow senior tri-captain Sam Hayman, junior Basile Beaty and first-year Carlyle Eubank to a section victory and 11th-place overall finish. The men's 4x400-meter relay team, comprised of Beaty, Hayman, Steve Stewart '09 and Kit Callahan '10, also ran a strong race, finishing 20th overall with its best showing of the season.
The 3,000-meter run equaled success for two of Amherst's runners. Senior Nate Freese ran under 8:40 for the first time in his career, and Harrison Lakehomer '09 nearly cracked it. Junior tri-captain Steve Shashy had a similarly successful meet, setting season bests in both the 400-meter and 200-meter dashes.
Women
For the Amherst women, the Valentine Classic began with a trip into the record books. The distance medley relay team, consisting of senior tri-captains Maria Millard and Shauneen Garrahan, as well as sophomores Caitlin McDermott-Murphy and Carly Levenson, finished second to only Brown University (Div. I), running the fastest time this season for a Div. III school.
Garrahan and Millard also had strong individual runs the next day. Garrahan won her section, coming in seventh overall, in the 5,000-meter run, while Millard placed 14th in the 800-meter run. Garrahan led her race every step of the way, showing great improvement from some of her earlier races. Junior Heather Wilson also had a strong race, finishing 14th, only 26.44 seconds behind Garrahan, and qualifying provisonally for the NCAA meet.
In dropping three seconds off her previous personal record in the 800, Millard also qualified provisionally for NCAAs. McDermott-Murphy, Mary Doris Reggie '10, Molly Priedman '09 and Lauren Benson '08 also posted career bests in the 800.
Levenson added to the list of athletes who ran strong races, finishing 17th overall in the 500-meter run and posting a personal-best time. Sophomore Elise Tropiano, in the midst of a breakout season, ran another stellar race, finishing the 3,000-meter run in just over 10 minutes. "The team has really come together this season," said Levenson. "Everyone has improved so much since December."
Now that the regular season has concluded, the Jeffs can focus their attention on the upcoming Div. III New England Championships scheduled for this Saturday. Both the men and the women will be leaving home for Maine, with the men traveling to Bates College and the women to the University of Southern Maine.