Despite windy conditions and some lingering injuries from last season, multiple athletes on both the men’s and women’s track teams qualified for championship meets at the opening meet of the outdoor track season held on March 29 at Trinity College.
“Some people [are] a little banged up, but getting back into the swing of things,” said Head Coach Erik Nedeau. This past weekend, the teams headed out to Fitchburg State College to compete in the Fitchburg Invitational and build upon their successes from the previous weekend’s Trinity Invite. With weather in the 50s and minimal wind, both teams improved their times and hit qualifying marks in multiple events.
Women
The Trinity meet was unscored, serving as a low-key opener to the outdoor season. The Amherst women turned out quite a few notable performances across the board. Nicole Anderson ’09, Hallie Schwab ’11, Laura Mortimer ’08, Katie Moravec ’08 and Liz Dalton ’09 all participated in the 10,000-meter run at the outset of the meet and swept the field in positions 2-6, respectively. Anderson’s time of 39:03.43 qualified her for ECACs and Open New Englands, two important championship meets. In the 5,000-meter run, Zandra Walton ’09 and Sophie Galleher ’10 beat the field easily. Galleher finished in second place while Walton won the race in 18:35.38. In mid-distance, new-comer Kristen Ballinger ’11 won the 800-meter run with a time of 2:21.58, and veteran runner Carly Levenson ’09 finished right behind her in a time of 2:22.42. The 400-meter run proved equally successful, as Susan Wasserman ’11 ran 63.04, giving her a fourth place finish. In her wake were Jennifer Rybak ’10 (fifth), Jenny Mancino ’09 (seventh) and Emily Dick ’11 (eighth). The sprints were greatly affected by the constant strong wind, but the end of the meet witnessed a spectacular running of the 4-by-400 as Levenson, Rybak, Mary Doris Reggie ’10 and Ballinger came together to run 4:10.64 and won the event. Their time qualified their relay team for a bid to ECACs.
At Fitchburg, the times were faster and the women placed even higher, coming in second as a team. The most notable race of the day was junior Elise Tropiano’s running of the 10,000, where she came in second and qualified provisionally for the NCAA Championship with a time of 37:13.58. Heather Wilson ’08 finished after Tropiano, with a time of 37:53.02, and missed qualifying for the NCAAs herself by only a few seconds. First-year Melissa Pritchard finished the 5,000 in second place, Walton ran a fast 1,500 (4:48.83) to take third and Ballinger followed up in fourth with a 4:53.64. Wasserman won the 400-meter hurdles in 69.46, while Kate Silverman ’09 made her presence known with a second-place finish (69.94). Levenson nearly broke the 60-second barrier in the 400, running 60.55 (to take second). Reggie was right on her heels and finished third with a time of 61.77. Levenson, not necessarily known for her 200-meter speed, doubled up and dropped a 28.08 to place fourth in the event. In the field, Rybak and Mancino teamed up to get second and fourth, respectively, in the High Jump. A newcomer to the team, Sarah Leyman ’11, rounded out the women’s efforts with a seventh-place finish in the Shot Put, throwing 33’ 1.75”.
Men
The men had varied success at Trinity, welcoming many new members to the team for the outdoor season. Daniel Murner ’10 posted a fast 10,000 to start the meet, coming in second (32:42.65). Florian Reicher ran well in the 10,000 as well, with a time of 33:14.75 (to take fifth place). Ben Mears ’11 finished next in sixth (33:17.27). Phenoms from the indoor season, Jimmy Swanson ’10 and Peter Harrison ’11, hit the ground running in the 5,000 to take second and fifth, respectively, followed closely by Peter Foote ’09 who finished in seventh. Swanson’s 15:33.19 qualified him through to ECACs. Sophomore Ryan Bone and first-year Chris Eaton will add some depth to the team this season. They took on the field in both the Shot Put and the Discus. Bone threw the shot 40’ ½” to net sixth, while Eaton threw 36’ 9”, earning 10th. The Discus gave them no trouble, as Bone threw 101’ 8” and grabbed fifth place. Eaton hurled it for 96’ 2” and walked away with seventh.
The men used the Fitchburg Invitational as another opportunity to post solid times, finishing fifth overall. Michael Harbus ’08, a distance veteran, nabbed a second-place finish in the 10,000, running 33:06.49. Foote, Amherst’s 3,000-meter Steeplechase pro, ran away with a win in 9:51.60, qualifying for ECACs in the process.
Harrison and Swanson stepped down to the mid-distances and took them by storm, finishing first and second in the 1,500-meter run, respectively, and then went 4-3, respectively, in the 800-meter run.
Ryan Drost ’11 hurdled to a 58.9 in the 400-meter Hurdles, which gave him fifth place. The sprint crew found some success in the 100-meter dash, with junior Anthony Fuller running 11.86 (10th) and first-year Sean Legister finishing in 12.19 (17th). The men’s 4-by-400 and 4-by-800 teams managed to come in third and first, respectively, as a nice cap to their meet.
Tropiano believes the indoor season has prepared the team well for the outdoor meets to come. “This year, many had breakthrough indoor seasons on the women’s and men’s side. Everyone is looking to carry the momentum from indoors to have an even greater outdoor season.” With such a promising beginning to both teams’ seasons, we can only keep our eyes glued to the track and field as these athletes begin to reacclimatize to the larger ellipse and bring down their times (or increase their distances) as the season progresses.