Track Teams Storm Through ECACs
By Matt Fernald '13, Sports Section Editor

This past weekend, the men and women’s indoor track teams travelled to NYU to compete in the ECAC Div. III Championships. The men took fourth place in the field of 53 teams while the women took seventh out of 47.

In the opening races, junior superstar Ben Scheetz broke yet another school record in the 500-meter dash with a first-place finish in 1:02.74. On the women’s side, senior Susan Wasserman also set a new school standard with her time of 1:17.30, beating the previous record by nearly a second.

In the 1,000-meter run, senior Will Yochum continued his dominant form in the event by taking his second consecutive ECAC title with a time of 2:27.32. Senior Steve Corsello also scored for the Jeffs by taking fourth in 2:29.40. Sophomore Keri Lambert also scored for the Jeffs, placing fourth with her time of 2:57.65.

In the other distance events, Ali Simeone ’13 ran a great race in the 5000-meter race, finishing third in 17:01.31, which was quick enough for an NCAA automatic qualifying time. She and the two women ahead of her beat the previous ECAC record. John McGrail ’11 finished sixth in both the men’s 5k (14:53.94) and 3k (8:40.68) races, while Patrick Grimes took 11th in the mile with a time of 4:17.34. In the women’s 3k, first-year Tori Sosnowski had a solid showing, finishing in 10:20.09 to take third, while senior Christina Wong’s time of 10:31.51 was enough to earn her eighth. In the 800-meter run, junior Melissa Sullivan took sixth in the 800-meter run with her time of 2:16.79.

The teams put on a great show in the relays: First, up was the 4x400 team of Andre Gary ‘11 , Andrew Reed ’12, Tommy Moore ’11 and Scheetz, whose winning time of 3:16.95 just missed out on a meet record. Next, the Lady Jeff squad featuring Lauren Almeida ’13, Lisa Walker ’14, Lambert and Amy Dao ’14 ran 9:36.37 in the 8x800 race to take third. The women also raced to a sixth-place finish in the distance medley relay, as Wasserman, Almeida, Sullivan and Eliza Schalch ’12 ran a 11:56.47, falling just short of a NCAA automatic qualifying time.

Senior Chris Eaton highlighted the Jeffs’ field competitors by besting his own school record of 17.10 meters by one centimeter in the weight throw, taking sixth with his 17.11 effort. On the women’s side, Jordan Roehl ’12 finished 18th in the women’s weight throw and Naomi Bates ’14 took 12th in the long jump and 19th in the triple jump.

Select members of the Amherst teams will return to action next weekend to compete in the NCAA Div. III Championships at Capital University in Columbus, Ohio. More information will be posted on the Amherst Athletics website early next week.

Issue 18, Submitted 2011-03-09 05:12:11