The outdoor track teams are off to a running start for their spring season. This past Saturday, the Lord Jeffs competed against Williams College, Springfield College, Middlebury College, and Stevens Institute at Springfield College. Both the men and women placed fourth in the small field, but there were several excellent individual performances by Amherst runners.

Men

Despite Saturday’s wind, rain and unseasonably cold temperatures, the Amherst men managed some successes in the long distance races. One of the stars of the day was sophomore Will Yochum, who snagged first in the 5000-meter run. Yochum beat out Williams’s Anthony Raduazo by five seconds, coming in with a time of 15:25.62. Fellow sophomore John McGrail didn’t trail fair behind, taking third with a time of 15:45. Junior Eric Holaday came in sixth place in the 5000 with a solid time of 15:40. In the 800-meter run, senior Steve Stewart came in second with a time of 1:58.34, just two seconds shy of Williams’s first place runner. Junior Daniel Murner, coming off a stellar indoor track season, nabbed second in the 1500-meter run, coasting in with a lightning-fast 4:09.11.

Two Amherst teams competed in the men’s 4x400-meter relay. Team “A”, including Andrew Reed ’12, Stewart, Larry Thompson ’10 and co-captain Anthony Fuller ’09, came in second place with a time of 3:36.69, falling only to Springfield’s “A” Team. Amherst’s “B” team, including Keith Pendergrass ’10, Ryan Drost ’11, Pete Skurman ’12 and Chris Erickson ’12, managed to run a time of 3:39.08, good for fifth place.

Although the Amherst men were not as successful collectively in the shorter distances, Fuller represented Amherst well in the 200-meter dash. Fuller finished seventh out of 13 runners with a time of 23:98. In the 400-meter dash, Thompson and Reed finished neck and neck, coming in sixth and seventh respectively. Amherst’s Chris Eaton ’10 was also a standout in the hammer throw, earning second place with an impressive throw of 40.52 meters. Despite these performances, in the end, the Lord Jeff men managed to edge out only Stevens Institute, and Springfield was the winner of the day.

Women

The Lord Jeff women competed very well this past Saturday, with some impressive sprinting and distance races. Mattie Baker ’09 placed fifth in the 100 and 200-meter dashes with a 13.52 and a 28.08. Tri-captain Carly Levenson ’09 followed her in the 200-meter, placing sixth with a 28.13. Levenson also went on to place fifth in the 400-meter with a 1:01.98.

The women’s distance runners were also able to achieve some nice finishes. First-year stud Melissa Sullivan was able to cruise into third place in the 800-meter with a 2:23.88. Sophomore Christina Wong, junior Sophie Galleher and senior Liz Dalton placed fourth, fifth and sixth respectively in the grueling 5000-meter run.

Dalton shared her thoughts on the meet, emphasizing Wong’s person-record run. “Despite the wind and chilly temperature, a number of people pulled through with good performances. Christina Wong ran a sassy 5k in which she set a fantastic new PR. I think she was able to fight the wind better than most because of all the water resistance training she did earlier this week. Apparently she checked the weather forecast ahead of time and catered her training in anticipation of the weekend’s blustery winds.”

The final event of the day was the 4x400 relay. Levenson, Mary Doris Reggie ’10, Sullivan and Susan Wasserman ’11 turned with their awesome style and third-place finish with a time of 4:17.40 in high winds.

In the field events, Jennifer Rybak ’10 placed fifth in the high jump with an intimidating 1.50-meter jump. Jordan Roehl ’12, as in indoor track, impressed with her 10.41 meter shot put throw, 30.22 meter discus throw and 38.33 meter hammer throw, which earned her fifth, fourth and second place.

The outdoor women’s track team looks forward to their upcoming meet this weekend at the UMass Invitational, where hopefully there will be no “blustery winds.”