Men
Racing in the event he has dominated all season long, senior Dan Murner won the 5-kilometer run in 15:14. His 4:54 per mile pace led the field of 22 runners. Running a 4:20.65 in the mile event, Murner claimed 11th place of 25 and followed junior Steve Corsello, who took 3rd place in 4:18.42, to the finish.
The men also grabbed the top spots in the 600-meter run and the 4x800-meter relay. Sophomore Ben Scheetz won the 600 in a lightning-quick 1:20.92, nearly two seconds ahead of the next finisher. Scheetz also ran the third leg for the relay team which, aided by fast times from Corsello and seniors Jimmy Swanson and Kit Callahan, nearly ran below 7:55. The team was the fastest of 17 and finished roughly two seconds ahead of second-place Bowdoin College.
The distance medley relay team also did well, finishing second of 14 teams, in 10:21.89. Seniors William Bell and Callahan teamed up with first-year runners Adron Pitmon and Patrick Grimes to run fast times that indicate good things for the most important races ahead.
Also worth noting were performances by Will Yochum ’11, who finished third in the 3,000-meter event with a time of 8:37.89, and Thebe Tsatsimpe ’11, who finished third in the long jump, with a distance of 6.90 meters. Tsatsimpe out-jumped 21 of his competitors, including all four of his opponents from Williams College.
“Perhaps inspired by the previous night’s viewing of Miracle, the men of Amherst tied the best overall finish in program history, placing fourth, a mere two points out of third,” wrote head coach Erik Nedeau on the team’s website.
The men will head to Boston University next weekend for the Open New England Championships. The meet will host squads from Div. I, II and III schools.
Women
Melissa Sullivan ’12 won the 800-meter event for the women’s team, running 2:15.94. Shortly thereafter, Sullivan competed in the 4x800-meter relay with Eliza Schalch ’12 and first-years Lauren Almeida and Keri Lambert. The team’s time of 9:33.70 was sufficient for a second-place finish in the field of 16 and slower only than Middlebury College’s winning time of 9:29.05.
The Jeffs also placed highly in several of the distance events. First-year Ali Simeone ran her way to third place in the 5-kilomoeter race with a time of 18:06.64, senior Hoiwan Cheung took third in the 1,000-meter event (3:02.29) and Sophie Galleher ’10 finished third in the 3-kilometer run with a 10:24.93.
“The meet went really well for us,” said Galleher, whom Nedeau dubbed Performer of the Meet. “We have such a small team that it’s difficult for us to be competitive at the Championship meets, and, in order to place in the top 10, everyone had to have an excellent performance.”
Standout performances were also delivered by 600-meter runners Mary Doris Reggie ’10 and Susan Wasserman ’10, who finished fourth and sixth, respectively.
The women will also be traveling to Boston University next weekend for the Open New England Championships. The meet, which will be held on Friday and Saturday, promises to showcase many more fast times and team efforts.