Women
First-year Jade McKnight led all of her opponents to the finish line of the 400-meter dash. Her time of 1:01.89 in the third heat was the fastest of all 13 racers and was nearly two seconds faster than that of the second-place finisher. McKnight also won the 200-meter dash with a time of 27.82.
“It was my first college meet ever, so I was nervous,” said McKnight. “But the team is so close that I got over it quickly and our women’s team totally owned! I was so excited to finally sport the purple and black uniform. It was a great way to start the season off.”
McKnight also completed the anchor leg of the 4x400-meter relay. The winning relay team, which also included Hoiwan Cheung ‘10, Mary Doris Reggie ‘10 and junior Zoe Pagonis won the event with an impressive time of 4:17.74. Cheung and Pagonis also took the top two spots in the 1,000-meter run, finishing within seven seconds of each other and more than ten seconds ahead of the third place finisher. Reggie ran a 2:26.38 800-meter, which gave her the win for that event.
Jessica Mueller ’13 won the second heat of the 200-meter dash and also competed in the triple jump where she finished fourth.
In the throwing events, sophomore Jordan Roehl was the runner-up in the first flight of the weight throw, and her throw of 12.96m set a school record. Junior Chibuzo Uwakaneme competed in the second flight and claimed second place with a throw of 10.60m. The two athletes also placed second in the first and third flights, respectively, of the shotput competition.
The women will compete next at Brandeis University on Saturday, Jan. 16th. They will bring a more complete team to the meet and expect to improve their times after a few more weeks of training.
Men
Sophomore Ben Scheetz achieved individual victories in the 800-meter and one-mile runs on Saturday. His 1:58.65 800-meter and 4:28.83 mile times put him just ahead of first-year Adron Pitmon, who took second place in both races.
In the shorter events, junior Thebe Tsatsimpe won the fourth heat of the 200-meter dash with a time of 23.13. He took first place in the 400-meter dash, running a 52.84 and finished sixth in the high jump with a height of 1.76 meters.
Finishing less than one second after Tsatsimpe in the 200 was sophomore Spencer Russell, who ran a 23.98. Russell also completed the 55-meter hurdle race in 8.20, which earned him second place in the finals.
Said Russell of his performance, “I think things went really well this Saturday, especially given how early it is in the season. It is difficult to get out and run fast times in December, but Saturday was a good starting place for us and our times should drop throughout the winter.”
First-year Ofori Amponsah finished third in the 55-meter dash with a time of 6.74. Amponsah also ran a 24.46 in the third heat of the 200-meter dash, earning him second place.
“We’re excited to have a lot of new talent this year for both teams,” said Russell, “and, as some of our fall athletes return for Interterm, I think we’re poised for a dangerous run through the Championship meets.”
The men’s team will join the women’s team at Brandeis on Jan. 16 at noon.