Amherst College played host to both Williams College and Wesleyan University this past Saturday for the Little Three Championships, which rotates between the three different campuses each year. Though students aren’t apt to complain about warm weather after months of winter, the weather may have actually been too hot, as some of the runners found themselves running slower times than the week before. Even the weather, however, couldn’t keep certain Jeffs from excelling.

Men

The men finished third overall, as Wesleyan proved to be more formidable than they have in recent years and Williams proved to be its usual dominant self. However, the Jeffs used this meet as an opportunity to go after some personal victories, improve personal bests and hopefully qualify for a few more championship meets, now that the regular season is essentially over. In the 5,000-meter-run, senior Michael Harbus grabbed second place with a time of 15:50.22. The 3,000-meter Steeplechase found Peter Foote ’09 just outstripped by a Williams runner to earn second place, with a time of 9:40.66.

Peter Harrison ’11 continued to astound by putting on a brilliant display of speed at the end of the 1,500-meter run to claim first place in 4:00.81. His partner in devastation, Jimmy Swanson ’10, was not to be silenced on the 800-meter-run end, as he took first place for himself in 1:55.45. Junior Anthony Fuller and first-year Sean Legister have found their legs and took third and fourth respectively in the 100-meter dash with fast times of 11.45 and 11.67. Also of note, Michael Dolmatch ’11 and Larry Thompson ’10 grabbed the fifth and sixth spots, respectively. Sophomore Ryan Bone and first-year Chris Eaton continued to be aggressive throwers, as Bone picked up fourth in the Shot Put, while Eaton notched a third-place victory in the Hammer Throw.

Yesterday, both teams returned to action in a small home meet against Trinity and Keene State Colleges. The track and field were both dominated by Amherst athletes, as neither opponent brought a full squad. The meet did, however, provide ideal conditions for the Jeffs to hit qualifying marks, as the weather was great and the pressure light.

Many of the distance runners on both the men’s and women’s sides used this meet as a workout, running the 1,500 before doing a tempo run and returning to the meet to run the 800.

Middle-distance runners Harrison and Swanson, however, went one, two in the 1,500 with times quick enough to meet the NCAA provisional qualifying standard.

Women

The women got past Wesleyan to secure second place, but Williams ran away with the overall victory as they had on the men’s side. The 5,000 was entertaining, as the Jeffs took the top five spots. The five women—junior Elise Tropiano, senior tri-captain Heather Wilson, senior Laura Mortimer, senior Kim Partee and junior Nicole Anderson—worked together to improve their times, often running in small groups.

The Steeplechase saw another 1-2 finish, with Sophie Galleher ’10 (11:46.71) and Katie Moravec ’08 (11:47.94) dominating the field. The 1,500 was another strong event for the team; juniors Zandra Walton and Caitlin McDermott-Murphy, who up until recently has been injured, claimed first and second place in times of 4:50.09 and 4:50.70, respectively.

Mary Doris Reggie ’10 had what looked like a breakout race, as she ran to 2:20.67 in the 800, obtaining fifth place. She led the pack for most of the race, only to fall off in the last 200 meters. First-year Susan Wasserman could not be stopped in the 400-meter hurdles, as she once again came out on top, running 67.11. In 100-meter hurdle action, Kathryn Loomis ’09 looked strong, running to a fifth-place finish (17.68).

The High Jump saw some high-flying antics, as Jenny Mancino ’09 and Jennifer Rybak ’10 got over the bar to earn second and third, respectively, on the day. The star of the meet, however, might have been Sarah Leyman ’11, who won the Hammer Throw (109’), came second in the Discus (96’ 4.75”) and also earned second in the Shot Put (33’ 7”).

“[It] is always a lot of fun because it is truly a team affair,” said senior tri-captain Lauren Benson. “Winning events is important, so there is extra pressure on—and more support for—the people on our team who usually finish among the leaders ... The result, as we saw this weekend, is a bunch of incredible performances, and an extremely fun day.”

The women also performance well yesterday with seniors Lauren Benson and Nicole Green posting solid times in their final collegiate races on their home track.

The Jeffs will travel to Hamilton College on Saturday to compete in the NESCAC Championships.