The track team battled tough weather and tougher competition this weekend, but the Jeffs welcomed the challenge at UMass' spring meet. The inclement weather forced the Jeffs to stay in Amherst rather than travel to Williamstown, Mass. for the Williams Relays as planned, a week after it kept the team from competing at the Fitchburg State Invitational. The change meant Amherst was up against seven Div. I New England schools, including the strong University of New Hampshire and Boston College teams. Despite the tough conditions, the Jeffs did the NESCAC proud, as the men finished eighth and the women, with several individual victories on the day, came in fifth.

Men

Basile Beaty '08 set the pace for the Jeffs, capturing sixth place and winning his section in the 400-meter dash with a time of 51.9 seconds. Beaty is coming off of a successful indoor season, one that culminated in a fourth place finish at the Div. III New England Championships in the 600-meter run, and the team will look to him to continue to lead the long sprinters. Steve Stewart '09 also turned in a fast 400, crossing the line in 13th place.

Several Jeffs registered strong finishes in the 800 meter run despite the high winds that kicked up during the race. Jack Kiley '09 just missed scoring, coming in seventh place, with Rom Cabeza '08 and Kit Callahan '10 following in 12th and 16th, respectively.

In the shorter sprints, Geoff Stricsek '07 carried the day with a 12th-place finish in the 200-meter dash while Tommy Moore '10 was a place behind in 13th. Junior tri-captain Steve Shashy had a personal record in the javelin, where his throw of 129'10", good for 10th place, was just short of the NESCAC qualifying mark. His day was mirrored by that of Peter Foote '09 who, running the 3,000-meter steeplechase, finished in 10th place and came up just shy of qualifying for the ECAC Championships.

Women

Tri-captain Shauneen Garrahan '07 continued her assault on the record books as she led the women to a fifth-place finish ahead of two Div. I teams. Her time of 10:24 in the steeplechase lowered her own school record by more than five seconds, and was the second fastest time ever by a Div. III runner. Additionally, according to steeplechics.com, Garrahan cracked the list of 100 fastest American steeplechase runners in history. All of this came despite the meet being the first opportunity for Garrahan to run the steeplechase in almost 11 months, and her times are sure to improve as the season progresses.

Heather Wilson '08 joined Garrahan in the winners' column as she took the tape in the 5,000-meter run. Outdueling a UMass runner on the final straightaway, Wilson's race qualified her for the NCAA Championships.

The performance of tri-captain Maria Millard '07 in the 400-meter hurdles was another highlight for the Jeffs. Millard lowered the school record she set two weeks ago and also set a facility record at the UMass Track and Field Complex. Millard later teamed with sophomores Carly Levenson, Kate Silverman and Zandra Walton to deliver a third-place finish in the 4x400 relay.

The trio of '09s Millard teamed with found success on their own as well. Walton finished ninth in the 800, a very promising return to the track after illness caused her to miss the indoor season. Levenson raced to seventh in the 400 while Silverman was ninth in the 400 hurdles.

Though the team could have been overwhelmed or intimated by the opposition, Kiley said this was not the case. The team instead viewed the strong field as an exciting challenge. "It was an awesome competition with a strong and deep field," said Kiley. "It presented a chance to beat the best." That attitude will serve the Jeffs well in the coming week, when they will battle Div. III powerhouse Williams College before moving into the championship season.