Amherst’s Focus Shifts to NCAAs
By Peter Stein, Sports Editor
The men and women’s indoor track team traveled to Harvard University this past weekend to compete in the Eastern College Athletic Conference Championships. The women placed 14th out of 51 teams and the men finished 16th out of 58 squads.

Men

The men accumulated 18 total points in the meet, most of which came in the longer distance events. Leading the way for the Jeffs were Peter Harrison ’11 and Daniel Murner ’10. Each of the runners finished second place in his event, earning the Jeffs eight points.

Harrison’s mile time of 4:13.81 put him just less than two seconds behind the first-place finisher from St. Lawrence University. Murner, in the 3,000-meter run ran a time of 8:38.25 for his silver finish.

The Jeffs’ last two points were picked up in the 800-meter run. Sophomore Jimmy Swanson’s time of 1:55.06 placed him seventh in the event.

Women

On the women’s side, the Jeffs accumulated a total of 24 points. The top finisher for the Jeffs on the day was Elise Tropiano, finishing the mile event in 5:06.10 for third place. Also placing individually for the Jeffs was first-year Susan Wasserman in the 500-meter run with a 1:19.56 time.

The Jeffs really shined in the long relays, as they finished fourth in the 4-by-880-yard relay with a time of 9:46.53. The best finish came in the distance medley relay, as the Jeffs finished 12:11.86, good for second place.

The Jeffs have just one meet to focus on now, as those who have qualified will travel to Ohio Northern University March 14-15 for the Div. III National Championships.

On the end of the season, Kate Silverman ’09 said, “For many of us, [ECACs] were the end of a great season full of broken records. With just three days off before the spring season, we’ll take this momentum right with us.”

Issue 20, Submitted 2008-03-12 02:58:24