Track Teams Hang Tough With Division I Squads
By Carlyn Robertson '14, Sports Section Editor

The track and field teams competed in the Reebok Boston Indoor Games, hosted at Northeastern University, this past Friday. The Jeffs held their own against tough Div. I teams.

“The meet was a big success — it’s still early in the season, yet our team performed well and we had a lot of outstanding individual performances,” senior co-captain Christina Wong said.

One of those outstanding performances came from junior Ben Scheetz. Scheetz was the standout at the meet for the Jeffs, taking first place in the 800-meter run. He entered the race ranked as the No. 2 seed, but he finished almost a second ahead of a Div. I Northeastern runner with a time of 1:52.28. Scheetz was the only Jeff to win his event, but other runners also stepped up against Div. I opponents. Steven Corsello ’11 placed third out of 71 runners in the mile with a 4:13.85.

The men’s distance medley relay also earned a third-place finish. Corsello joined Pat Grimes ’13, Adron Pitmon ’13 and senior captain Taylor Perkins to run a time of 10:24.60, which left the other Div. III teams in the dust. The Jeffs did even better in the 4x400-meter relay, placing second behind Brown University with a 3:20.60. Chris Eaton ’11 rounded out the day with a fourth-place finish in the weight throw with a personal best of 16.51 meters. The Jeff men finished in eighth place out of 17 teams. They tied with Williams at 36 points, ahead of all the other Div. III squads.

The women had a day of strong races as well. “There was a lot of great competition at the Boston Indoor Games, and the banked track also helped us in running fast times,” Wong said. Wong was proud to see how well the team stacked up against Div. I competitors, and said that the “results bode well for the championship meets that are coming up in a couple of weeks.” Sophomore Ali Simeone placed sixth out of 85 runners in the mile. She was well ahead of the Div. III pack with a time of 4:59.44, the only time in the division under five minutes. Simeone also earned sixth place in the 3,000-meter run with a 10:10.07.

Melissa Sullivan ’12 anchored the women’s distance medley, racing with Eliza Schalch ’12, Susan Wasserman ’11 and Lauren Almeida ’13. Their 12:26.95 put the team in seventh place. Three other Jeffs placed within the top 20 places in their respective events. Triple jumpers Jess Mueller ’13 and Naomi Bates ’14 placed 12th and 13th, respectively, and junior Jordan Roehl finished 16th in the weight throw. The women placed 13th overall.

Senior Will Yochum did not participate in the Boston Indoor Games, but competed the next day in the Boston University Terrier Classic. He also faced off against Div. I runners, coming in fourth out of 125 competitors in the mile run. Yochum did Div. III proud, finishing less than a second after the top runner with a time of 4:07.16.

The Jeffs will race at Smith College this Saturday. The women’s team has won this meet for the past two years, and both squads are hoping to emerge victorious.

Issue 13, Submitted 2011-02-03 09:02:26