Women
The Lady Jeffs were led by their consistently dominant distance crew, which nearly swept the longer events. Elise Tropiano '09 and Heather Wilson '08 finished second and third in the 1500-meter run while Sophie Galleher '10 and Katie Moravec '08 matched those places in the 3000-meter steeplechase. The 5000-meter run was even more Jeff-hegemonic, as senior tri-captain Shauneen Garrahan, Wilson, and Nicole Anderson '09 took the top three spots.
The middle distance events saw several strong performances from the class of 2009. In the 400-meter dash, sophomores Carly Levenson and Jenny Mancino finished fourth and sixth. Classmates Caitlin Murphy and Zandra Walton held up their end of the bargain in the 800-meter run, as they crossed the line in third and eighth.
Senior tri-captain Maria Millard took the tape in the 400-meter hurdles, an event in which she set the school record earlier this year. Her fellow captain Hanna Campbell paced the sprinters with a fourth place finish in the 200-meter dash. She later teamed with Levenson, Millard, and Murphy in the 4x400-meter relay to help the Lady Jeffs Jeffs pick up their third and final victory of the day. Highlights from the field events included Jennifer Rybak '10 placing third in the triple jump and the strong discus and hammer throws of Angela Coombs '10.
Men
The Lord Jeffs had success similar to their female counterparts in the distance events, taking the top spots in the 1500, 5000, and steeplechase. Senior tri-captain John Babbott won the 1500, holding off a pack of seven of Williams runners that included All-American Mike Davitian. Carlyle Eubank '10 took the 5000 in dramatic fashion, outsprinting a Wesleyan runner on the final straightaway. Rob Boley '07 completed the Jeff long-distance sweep with a victory in the steeplechase, while Will Bell '10 was hot on his heels in second.
Steve Stewart '09 was the top Jeff finisher in the 400, as he ran a collegiate PR en route to fourth place. Basile Beaty '08 and Jimmy Swanson '10 flew to personal bests as well, theirs coming in the 800 meters, in which they placed third and fourth. Eric Glustrom '07 also ran well in the 800, in which he led his heat wire-to-wire and broke the daunting two-minute barrier for the first time.
Kit Callahan '10 showed impressive dexterity, finishing eighth in the 200 meters and seventh in the javelin, in addition to helping the Jeffs to a second-place finish in the 4x100-meter relay. Over the past year, he has run races at every distance between 100 and 8000 meters. Equally versatile and valuable was junior tri-captain Steve Shashy, who, competing in seven events, picked up key points in four of them.
The unquestionable highlight for the Lord Jeffs, though, was the 4x400 relay team's victory, in which Beaty, Stewart, and Callahan teamed with Jack Kiley '09 to outgun the strong Eph and Cardinal teams. Kiley's individual split of 49.9 seconds was the fastest recorded by a Jeff in almost a year.
This week is an exciting one for the Jeffs. The team competed in its only home meet of the season yesterday against Trinity College and Keene State. The Jeffs fared well on the day, with many individual victories and personal records. Murphy won the 1500 and Millard won the 800 with a time of 2:14.
For the men, Eubank finished first in the 1500 and also set a personal-best time. Kiley continued his strong running, winning the 800 and setting a personal best 1:54.83 time.
On Thursday, three Jeffs-Garrahan, Tropiano and Wilson-will take the trip to the Penn Relays, the oldest and most prestigious track meet in the United States. The team then travels to Middlebury on Saturday for the NESCAC Championship.
"The team is excited to improve on last year's performance in the NESCAC Championship," said Kiley. "We look forward to competiting against the tough teams in the conference."
With another shot at Williams and Wesleyan-and all the Fairest College's traditional foes-looming, it is clear the Jeffs will keep the competitive fires burning.