Competing against teams from NCAA’s Divisions I, II and III, the Jeffs had strong showings in the 2010 Open New England Championships at Boston University. The men’s team placed 12th of 33 and the women finished 15th of 34 in the two-day competition.
Men
“It was a very strong showing for Amherst this weekend,” said senior runner Carlyle Eubank. “Several people achieved provisional marks for NCAAs, and a few even captured automatic qualifiers.”
The first group to earn an automatic qualifier was the men’s distance medley relay group, posting a very fast time for the third time in the last three weekends. Clocking a 9:56.73, Steve Corsello ’11, Tommy Moore ’11, Ben Scheetz ’12 and Jimmy Swanson ’10 earned the team a third place finish in the event. The Jeffs relay squad finished ahead of 17 others and achieved an automatic qualifying time for the National Championship.
Running in a competitive field of 28 milers, junior Will Yochum high-tailed his way to fourth place with a time of 4:09.41. Yochum’s fast finish earned him a national qualifying time, and he led his teammate, Corsello, who clocked a 4:20.62.
In the five-kilometer run, Eubank placed fifth in 14:49.22. Following him across the finish line 20 seconds later was first-year Andrew Erskine, who also placed in the top half of the field.
Senior Daniel Murner, who has made heads turn with his record-setting speed this season, competed in the 3,000-meter run, in which he placed 12th of 28 with a time of 8:35.15.
“I’m really proud to be a part of this track team,” said Eubank. “It has to be one of the strongest the College has ever seen. The range of talent, from the sprints to the distances, is remarkable. We are a relatively small program, but we are not short on talent.”
The men will race next in the ECAC Championships at Smith College on Friday and Saturday.
Women
The women’s distance medley relay team also placed highly in the Championship meet. Hoiwan Cheung ’10, Susan Wasserman ’11, Mary Doris Reggie ’10 and Melissa Sullivan ’12 worked together to earn fifth place of 17 teams. Their time of 12:00.83 was nearly five seconds ahead of the sixth-place New Hampshire team.
“I think we really took advantage of the fast track and the competition,” said Wasserman. There were a lot of great times, including a handful of provisional and automatic times for Nationals, which shows just how much talent there is on the team and how hard everyone has been working.”
Cheung added, “If we can bring that same level of competition to ECAC’s next weekend, I think we’re going to see many more great performances!”
First-year Ali Simeone completed the 3000-meter run in 10:08.73. The fast time earned her an eighth-place finish in the field of 28 runners.
Like the men’s team, the women sent two athletes to the starting line of the five-kilometer race. Senior Sophie Galleher’s 17:46.77 earned her a sixth-place finish, and first-year Sarah Daly’s 18:18.24 placed her 11th.
Although Connecticut was clearly the top team at the meet, the Jeffs placed ahead of such strong schools as Tufts University, Williams College and Bates College. The strong competition will continue next week at Smith College, where the women will compete in the ECAC Championships before heading to Indiana for the National Championships the following weekend.
“I’m excited for next weekend,” said Wasserman. “I think there will be a few more great performances that will add to the group that goes to Nationals.”