Women
While the women tied with Smith College at 15 points, there were three top-eight performances. Sophomore Susie Wasserman, junior Hoiwan Cheung and senior Molly Priedeman’s performances gave the Jeffs points at the meet while many of their teammates also had noteworthy runs.
In the 5000-meter race, sophomore Hallie Schwab, junior Sophie Galleher and senior Liz Dalton placed 11th, 12th and 16th respectively and finished with times of 18:16.36, 18:24.62 and 18:51.43. Amherst runners also stood out in the 500-meter dash. Wasserman placed fourth with a time of 1:19.02, senior tri-captain Carly Levenson followed in sixth place with a time of 1:19.20 and junior Mary Doris Reggie was Amherst’s third runner in a ninth-place 1:20.55. In the 1000-meter run, Cheung and Priedeman placed fifth and sixth with times of 3:05.45 and 3:06.39, respectively. First-year Melissa Sullivan placed 13th in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:19.92.
Despite high seed times, neither the 4x400-meter nor the 4x800-meter relays managed earn scoring times. The 4x400 finished 12th while the 4x800 was tripped and did not finish the race.
Senior tri-captain Elise Tropiano used this weekend to rest her legs for this weekend’s National Championships. As the lone member of the women’s team traveling to Indiana, she’ll compete in the 5000-meter run on Saturday.
Men
The Lord Jeff men were second only to Saint Lawrence College at the championship meet. Leading the team to their near-victory was junior Daniel Murner. Murner had an outstanding pair of races, winning both the 5000-meter run on Friday with an NCAA provisional qualifying time of 14:47.86 and Saturday’s 3000-meter run in 8:36.73. Sophomore Will Yochum followed Murner in the 3000-meter, taking 12th place. Junior Jimmy Swanson also achieved an NCAA provisional qualifying time with his 4:14.61 in the one-mile run. In addition, junior Will Bell placed third in the 1000-meter run with a solid time of 2:31.47. Rounding out this day of successful performances for the men was the 4x800 relay team of Bell, Swanson, junior tri-captain Kit Callahan and sophomore Tommy Anderson, which cruised to fourth place with a time of 8:00.15.
Joining Tropiano at Nationals will be the men’s distance medley relay team of Bell, sophomore Tommy Moore, Callahan and Swanson.
Murner said this weekend’s success bodes well for the upcoming national meet. “As individuals, we’ve hit fast times all season. Our team is competitive and eventually that shows. The high finish at a big meet should set a great tone for the distance medley relay as they try to put us on the board at Nationals.”
He also claims the high finish caused some inter-team animosity. “The girls’ team was shocked at our second place finish; shocked and jealous; shocked, jealous and enraged. For a time we couldn’t even board the bus in an orderly fashion because of their commotion. But Kit let them hold the trophy for a few moments and the situation was quickly diffused.”
Most of the non-Nationals contingent will return to competition in late March to begin the outdoor season.