Women
The women kicked off their season in style, as they ended up with a third-place podium finish in a field of 18 other teams. Most of the meet’s early action began in the field, as sophomore Jordan Roehl placed fourth in the hammer throw with a two-spin throw of 39.14m, close to her personal record. In the combined 10,000 m run, senior tri-captain Sophia Galleher led the pack with a time of 37:36.21. She also paced four other Amherst runners who finished fourth through seventh in the race. Fellow senior Jen Rybak and first-year Jess Mueller finished in a tie for eighth in the high jump at 1.47m, with Mueller also finishing tied for sixth in the triple jump (10.29m).
First-year Ali Simeone maintained the Jeffs’ dominance at the meet, leading a slew of other Amherst athletes who followed her fifth-place 4:55.07 time in the 1500m with similar times that helped Amherst take places five through ten in the race. “Even though our team is relatively small compared to other programs, I believe that our spring break training has been very helpful in providing us with a solid training base for the season,” said Simeone.
Senior tri-captain Mary Doris Reggie, who finished seventh in the 1,500 m, came in third in the 800m event after running a smooth 2:22.67. Not to be outdone, first-year Keri Lambert turned in a second-place finish in the 5000m, in 18:52.61. Sophomore Laura Zaccagnino finished a few tenths of a second later to also climb the podium with a third place finish.
The Jeffs also had solid outings in the Tufts’ Snowflake Classic, which saw the 4x400m relay team of first-years Rebecca Alizzi and Lauren Almedia and seniors Hoiwan Cheung and Caroline Darmody bring it all home in 4:05.74 — nearly 12 seconds faster than the next team.
Sophomore Melissa Sullivan paced the Jeffs in the 800m with her 2:19.23 time, which let her squeak by Reggie and Cheung to finish in second. Reggie and Cheung finished in third and fourth, respectively. Sullivan also finished second in the 1,500m with a time of 4:41.26. Simeone came up big in the 5,000m, finishing in second with an 18:16.83.
In the field, Roehl figured prominently again as her 11.47m in the shot-put landed her in third place. Mueller also had a third place event finish, with a distance of 10.94m for the triple jump.
Men
The start of the men’s season was a tad less illustrious, as their efforts yielded a middle-of-the-pack eighth-place finish in a field of 16 at the Jerry Gravel Classic.
In the field, two new athletes, Denzel Duncan and Pierce Kelley, made their presences felt on the team, as they demonstrated considerable talent for newcomers in the javelin and the discus. Sophomore Geoff Ainslee was named one of the “performers of the meet” by head coach Erik Nedeau, after he set new personal records in both the 800 and 1500m runs. Another of coach Nedeau’s performers of the meet, first-year Ofori Amponsah, showed noteworthy promise as a sprinter — clocking in at 11.46 for the 100m (9th place), and an equally impressive 23.53 in the 200m (tenth place). In the final event of the day for the team, junior John McGrail nabbed second place in the 5,000m with a time of 15:40.54. Senior Will Bell joined McGrail on the podium with a 15:47.49 finish, good for third.
In the following meet at Tufts, the men’s team racked up six events outright while maintaining its good standing in a number of others. Sophomore Ben Scheetz got the Jeffs off the blocks quickly, winning the 400m dash in 49.07. Steve Corsello, a junior, kept it going with a speedy 1:57.03 in the 800m, which netted him second place. In the 1,500m, senior Daniel Murner continued to polish an already gleaming senior season with another first-place finish, this time in 4:00.87.
The most impressive Amherst finish of the day might have been in the 5,000m, as senior Carlyle Eubank led the pack in 15:08.39, before junior Will Yochum and Murner followed a few moments later to adorn the podium with Jeffs. Sophomore Spencer Russell put forth a time of 15.99 in the 110m hurdles to take home second, with junior Ryan Drost taking third in the 400m hurdles in a time of 58.33. McGrail also grabbed a third place finish in the 3000m steeplechase with a time of 10.01.11.
Junior Thebe Tsatsimpe dominated both the long jump and the triple jump, with distances of 6.86m and 13.20m, to finish first. Elsewhere in the field, Duncan’s 33.31m discus toss landed him in third and junior Christopher Eaton placed second with a 42.48m hammer throw.