This past weekend’s running moved up north to Clinton, N.Y., where Hamilton College was the host of the NESCAC Championships. Both the men’s and women’s track and field teams brought large squads that had qualified for the meet, and the results were a mixed bag—the women finished in fourth place overall with 74.5 points while the men finished ninth with 39 points.
Tri-captain Ben Read ’08 had high hopes in the days leading up meet. “We’re headed in with the most complete team we’ve had in my four years,” he said. “We’ve been joined by new short sprinters and throwers who have let us put someone in almost every event. We still don’t have the numbers to compete for the championship overall, but we’re more competitive than we have been in a number of years.”
Read’s observations were practically spot on as the team, while finishing near the bottom as a team, still managed to come away with some excellent finishes and times. In the 10,000-meter run, sophomore Daniel Murner finished fourth in 32:28.66, only 20 more seconds off the winning time. Peter Foote ’09, known for his steady Steeplechase prowess, found fifth place in the 3,000-meter steeplechase (9:36.45), edging ever closer to an NCAA Provisional qualifying time. In the same event, John McGrail ’11 grabbed 10th in a time of 10:03.96. The 4-by-100-meter relay saw a solid time of 44.89 from the sprint team, which was good enough for seventh. The 1,500-meter run was incredibly fast, as the winning time came through in 3:51.
Amherst’s own Peter Harrison ’11 was right on the winner’s heels, coming in second place in another NCAA Provisional time of 3:54.12. Jimmy Swanson ’10 was right in the midst of the action as well as he earned fourth place, coming in shortly after Harrison in 3:54.69, also another NCAA Provisional qualifier. First-year Will Yochum had a solid race in the 1,500 as well, taking 11th place with 4:04.67.The 800-meter run had the same blisteringly fast outcome as the 1,500, with that same top runner from Hamilton (Peter Kosgei) running to 1:50. Swanson doubled back for this event and ran an incredible 1:53.01, finally notching his own NCAA Provisional qualifier in the event, and claiming the title of the fastest 800 of the season so far for an Amherst runner.
Newcomer Ryan Drost ’11 has been invaluable to the team in the 400 Meter Hurdles and proved his worth again this weekend, notching 10th place for the team (58.25). The 5,000-meter run gave senior Michael Harbus no trouble as he finished sixth in 15:31.11 followed by Florian Reichert in eighth place and Eric Holaday ’10 in 13th. One of the most interesting relays to watch, the distance medley relay presented the men with another high finish as they earned fourth place in a time of 10:25.91.
Tri-captain Kate Silverman ’09, early in the week, stressed the delicate balance of shifting to individual concerns while still maintaining a strong sense of team. “As a smaller school, our focus does tend to shift to individual performances at this point in the season, but there is definitely still a goal of solid team performance and a big emphasis on supporting each other. We’ve had so many great performances so far this season, we’re just looking to see some more while keeping our bodies healthy and strong.”
However, there was nothing small about the noise that the women made at the NESCAC Championships. In the field, Jenny Mancino ’09 reached 1.50 meters in the high jump to share seventh place with another competitor. First-year standout Sarah Leyman continued to show promise as she threw to 10.21 meters in the shot put for ninth place and then threw 30.02 meters in the discus for seventh. The 10,000-meter run found Elise Tropiano ’09 in a league of her own as she won the event with a time of 36:09.24, an NCAA Provisional qualifying time. Heather Wilson ’08 was the next finisher, nabbing second in 37:33.43, also a provisional qualifier. Liz Dalton ’09 came in ninth, just under 40 minutes, and sophomore Sophie Galleher earned fourth in the steeplechase. Sixth place came to the women in the 4-by-100 with a time of 51.53.
Junior Caitlin McDermott-Murphy continues to find her legs as she raced to 4:47.04 in the 1,500. Kristen Ballinger ’11 nearly took the crown in the 400-meter dash as she was just beat out to finish second in 57.66, but broke the school record for the event. Carly Levenson ’09 had an amazing 800 to snag fifth place, finishing in 2:18.97, a personal best.
In 400-meter hurdles action, there were multiple high finishes from Susan Wasserman ’11 in sixth place, Silverman in eighth, and Mancino finishing 10th. Seniors Kim Partee and Katie Moravec managed to go second and third in the 5,000, finishing in 18:13.36 and 18:16.54, respectively. Nicole Anderson ’09 was not far behind, finishing fifth in 18:20.28. In the last two relays of the day, women managed to do well. The 4-by-400-meter relay team finished second, setting a new school record of 3:55.13 and qualifying provisionally for the NCAA Championships.