Despite Saturday’s withering heat, the Lord Jeff track and field teams thrived at the NESCAC Championships at Connecticut College in New London, Conn. The Amherst men managed to place fifth out of 11 teams, while the women placed eighth overall in a field of 11 teams.
Women
The Amherst women put in a good effort on Saturday, but in the end beat out only Hamilton College, Connecticut College and Trinity College. They finished the day in eighth place with 26 points, just shy of Wesleyan’s 29.5 points (despite soundly defeating the Cardinals in the previous weekend’s Little Three Championships). Williams College showcased its team’s remarkable depth by finishing first overall with 180 points.
The women struggled in shorter distances, placing in the final rounds of only a few races. In the 200-meter dash, senior Mattie Baker came in 16th out of 27 runners with a time of 27.99. Tri-captain Carly Levenson ’09 placed 10th in the 400-meter dash, finishing with an impressive time of 1:01.13.
Melissa Sullivan ’12 also gave a noteworthy performance in the 800-meter run. Sullivan ran a lightning-fast 2:18.44, good for ninth place. Amherst’s next runner was junior Hoiwan Cheung in 14th place with a time of 2:21.30.
In the 1500-meter run, senior Zandra Walton and first-year Liza Schalch finished 12th and 13th, respectively, with times of 4:55.20 and 4:56.98. Sophie Galleher ’10 squeezed into the top 10 in the 5000-meter run, running 19:01.89, good for 10th place out of 23 runners.
Amherst had three runners among the top finishers in the 10,000-meter as well. Hallie Schwab ’11 snagged sixth place with a time of 38:20.05. Liz Dalton ’09, who ran most of the race with Schwab, was right behind her teammate in seventh place with a time of 38:24.83. Together, the duo chipped in seven points to Amherst’s overall score. Christina Wong ’11 was also nearby in 10th place with a time of 40:09.84.
In the 400-meter hurdles, Susan Wasserman ’11 took third place with a time of 1:05.48, contributing six points for Amherst and earning all-NESCAC honors.
Amherst ran most impressively in the relays. In the 4x100-meter relay, Amherst came in seventh place. Four seniors, Mattie Baker, Kate Silverman, Kathryn Loomis and Jenny Mancino, together finished the race in 52:01. In the 4x400-meter relay, Amherst’s team of Wasserman, Silverman, Mary Doris Reggie ’10 and Levenson came in fifth place out of the 11 relay teams with a time of 4:03.38. Finally, Amherst’s 4x800-meter relay team cruised to third place to snag an all-NESCAC spot. Cheung, Molly Priedeman ’09, Schalch and Sullivan finished the race in 9:25.78.
Amherst continues to lack depth in the field events. However, first-year Jordan Roehl placed eighth amongst 16 competitors in the shot put with at throw of 11.09 meters. She also placed in the hammer throw, earning ninth with a throw of 38.81 m.
Men
The men performed admirably at the NESCAC Championships. Sean Legister ’11 and co-captain Anthony Fuller ’09 placed fifth and sixth, respectively, in the 100-meter dash finals with times of 11.47 and 11.48. Andrew Reed ’12 also wowed with his 400-meter dash performance, with his time of 50.49 earning him eighth place. Tommy Moore ’11, who came in ninth in 50.58, followed close behind.
In the distance events, Jimmy Swanson ’10 made his team very proud in the 800-meter run with his fourth place finish and time of 1:54.50. Will Yochum ’11 had similar success in the 1500-meter run, earning fourth place in 3:57.07. Will Bell ’10 also cracked the top ten with a seventh place finish and a time of 4:00.38.
Daniel Murner ’10 had quite a studly race (again) in the 5000-meter run, with his time of 15:22.51 earning him second place and all-NESCAC honors. Carlyle Eubank ’10 ran the 5000-meter quite well too, with his time of 15.29.91 earning him a very respectable fourth place. Sassy senior co-captain Peter Foote also amazed with his 3000-meter steeplechase when he placed second with an all-NESCAC-worthy time of 9:26.16.
The men’s 4x100 (Fuller, Reed, Legister and Moore) and 4x400 (Moore, Fuller, Steve Stewart ’09 and Reed) relays also both placed third, while the distance medley relay (Yochum, Kit Callahan ’10, Bell and Swanson) impressed all and placed first to earn the teams’ only win of the weekend. All three relays garnered all-NESCAC honors.
Murner was proud of his team’s accomplishments. “The team had a solid showing at NESCACs. We did well in most events, but the real standout was the DMR team. It wasn’t so much their first place finish that was impressive, but rather the fact that they actually reunited to race. Like the 1970 Beatles, the All-American DMR squad has experienced fame, and the inevitable boosting of egos this entails. In fact, they’ve refused to race as a squad since their All-American performance at Indoor Nationals. Rumor has it that 400m leg, Kit Callahan (Ringo), now requires an appearance fee to race, making him the highest paid 51-point 400 runner in all of NCAA track and field.”
Both the men’s and women’s teams are looking forward to the Div. III New England Championships this weekend at Springfield College.