Men
On the men’s side, Williams College and MIT claimed the first and second spots. The Lord Jeffs gave a valiant effort but failed to break the top 10. Although the men’s team lacked depth in shorter distances, it held its own in some of the longer events.
Sophomore Tommy Moore placed in the 600-meter run with a time of 1:24.89, and junior Jimmy Swanson sailed into fourth place in the 800-meter with an impressive 1:57.44. Sophomore Steve Corsello represented the Jeffs well in the 1000-meter run, coming in eighth with a time of 2:33.35. Junior Will Bell placed eighth as well in the one mile with a solid 4:25.58. Sophomore Will Yochum placed in the top half of the 3000-meter with an 8:57.18 effort.
Senior tri-captain Peter Foote is packing the heat as his last indoor track season winds down and was able to place third in the brutal 5000-meter — despite tripping and falling mid-race — with a 15:16.62. The men’s 4 x 400 meter relay team, which was made up of sophomores Ryan Drost, Tommy Moore and Andre Gary along with senior Steve Stewart, continued to excel, placing fourth with a collective 3:29.09.
Next week, the men hope to avoid any more sickness and perform at their best for the Open New England Championships at Boston University. Foote remains optimistic. “I think this weekend’s struggles will light a fire under us, motivating us to run to our full potential as we near the end of the season,” he said.
Women
On the women’s side, MIT and Tufts University claimed the top two spots, and Amherst snagged eighth behind Brandeis. Like the men, the Amherst women struggled in shorter distances, including the 200-meter and 400 meter-races. In the 600-meter, however, senior tri-captain Carly Levenson managed to earn seventh out of 16 runners with a time of 1:39.73.
There were several standout distance runners at the meet. First-year Melissa Sullivan coasted to 10th place out of 21 runners in the 800-meter race with a time of 2:22.65. Junior Mary Doris Reggie was not far behind, coming in 12th in 2:23.49. Senior Molly Priedeman and junior Hoiwan Cheung took 10th and 11th out of 25 runners in the 1000-meter race, running 3:06.56 and 3:07.81, respectively.
Speedster Shannon McKenna ’12 ran 5:28.33 in the mile, earning herself 15th place out of 22 runners. Continuing her outstanding season, senior tri-captain Elise Tropiano coasted to first place in the 3000-meter race. Her lightning-fast 10:03.32 finish was the highlight of the day. Junior Sophie Galleher also ran a noteworthy 10:42.80, good for 14th place. In the 5000-meter race, sophomore Hallie Schwab took fifth place out of 17 runners with a time of 18.11.14.
The Amherst women’s relay teams were also able to hold their own. The 4 x 400-meter relay team, including sophomore Susan Wasserman, Reggie and senior tri-captains Kate Silverman and Levenson, finished third amongst 18 teams with a time of 4:05.73. The 4 x 800-meter relay team had a decent finish as well, running 9:47.81 for 7th place out of 18 teams. The women’s distance medley team, consisting of Galleher, Reggie, Levenson and Tropiano beat out nine other teams for first place with a time of 12:12.90.
Amherst’s star shot-putter, first-year Jordan Roehl, gave another fine performance, throwing 11.67 meters for seventh place. Reflecting on Saturday’s events, Silverman admitted that the competition was stiff, but she especially praised Amherst’s distance medley relay team, which won for the fourth year in a row and qualified provisionally for Nationals. Tropiano also pointed out that the Amherst women’s performances “were driven by pure racing, rather than time, splits or pacing. Everyone raced their hearts out. I’m really proud of our team.”
Next weekend, the Lord Jeffs will try to hold their own at the next of their championship meets, the Open New England Championships at Boston University.