As the winter season reaches its latter stages, the schedule turns to the bigger track and field championship meets. In their first such competition, the Amherst indoor track and field teams competed in the New England Div. III Indoor Track and Field Championships this weekend.

The men traveled to Springfield College, where they placed seventh out of 25 teams with 42 cumulative points. Ben Scheetz ’12 led the way for the Jeffs with an impressive time of 1:19.75 in the 600 meter run, shattering the New England indoor record by almost a full second. John McGrail ’11 also put his name in the books, breaking the Springfield facility record in the 3,000 meter run as he posted a time of 8:29.54. The Jeffs earned a third facility record in the 4x400 race, with Andre Gary ’11, Andrew Reed ’12, Tommy Moore ’11 and Matt Melton ’14 combined to run a time of 3:23.47.

The women, competing in a different venue at MIT, also had a good showing, placing sixth out of 24 teams. Ali Simeone ’13 placed second in the 3,000 meter run with a solid time of 10:09.12. In addition, Melissa Sullivan ’12 took fourth place in the 800 meter race by finishing in 2:21.00. The field competitors also experienced success, led by Naomi Bates ’14. Bates placed seventh in the long jump with a leap of 5.17 meters.

Both teams now wait until this Saturday to return to competition, when they will travel to Boston University for the Open New England Championships.