About this site
My hope for this this page, and ultimately the concept of it, is to increase the levels of involvement and interest by you, the former athletes of the program. In this day and age, it seems as though the web is the best resource for quick and efficient information sharing, and with that in mind, I wanted to create a page that is specifically for the alumni of the program. Each fall, I send out a solicitation letter and will hear from a few of you as a result, but would love to hear from a greater number of you, and maybe this can be a way to do just that. The purpose of the letter is to help raise funds - I certainly cannot deny that - but it is also a ways and means to try and keep you involved and updated as to how your teams are doing. Taking a minute to peruse the web site, you can find a great deal of information about the team, its student-athletes, a history of the program - far more then a simple letter can provide. I would love to hear from you, and specifically, hear about ways that I can set up / design / implement this alumni page so that it is user friendly, and even possibly create a way for people to be able to stay in touch through the page. I think that the current Track & Field Homepage captures the essence of the sport best, and my hope is that perhaps I will be able to do that with you all as well with this site.
What's New with Amherst Track & Field?
August 2009 - NCAA Woman of the Year Semifinalist Announced Elise Tropiano was named as one of the 30 semifinalist for the 2009 Woman of the Year Full Story
June 2009 - The 2nd Annual Reunion Run was won by the Even's, with the 84's being the biggest turnout of all classes. Full story
April 2009 - As the date gets closer to the Reunion Weekend for those in the 4 and 9 classes, as well as those who have graduated within the last 4 years, we wanted to remind you that we will be having the 2nd Annual Reunion 5k Run on that Saturday at 9:00AM Full Story
March 2009 - Elise Tropiano became the program's 6th National Champion (joining Bill Flannery, Rob Mitchell 4x, Nicole Campbell 2x, Carter Hamill 5x and Shauneen Garrahan 4x) as she won the 5000 in a time of 16:58.86 at the 2009 Indoor NCAA's at Rose Hulman Institute. The Men's DMR earned All-American Honors by virtue of their 7th place finish as Will Bell, Tommy Moore, Kit Callahan and Jimmy Swanson each earned for thie first AA honors.
Mar 2009 - Elise Tropiano in the 5000m, and the Distance Medley Relay team of Jimmy Swanson, Tommy Moore, Will Bell and Kit Callahan will compete at the 2009 NCAA DIII National Championships being held at Rose Hulman Institute of Technology in Terre Haute, Indiana. The men's DMR became the first Amherst team to ever run under 10:00 when they ran 9:59.60 at the Valentine Classic early this season with Ben Scheetz running the 800 leg - replaced for Nationals (due to injury) by Kit. At the ECAC meet, Danile Murner broke the school record in the 5k, running 14:47.86 to win, and also won the 3k the next day helping the men finish 2nd at the Championships - its highest finish in school history
June 2008 - 2008 XC & TF Reunion Run news - we had a tremendous turnout for this first time event, as we had 71 finishers and a huge turnout of supporters. Kip Gallant'93 and Helen Dole'04 were the top male and female finishers. The weather was beautiful, and there was a great food spread following the race that was enjoyed by all. We will definitely be trying to build on this year's success as we head into the future of the Reunion Run. For the Results and Photos from the run please Click on 2008 Reunion RunAt the NCAA's in Wisconsin Osh-Kosh Kristen Ballinger'11 ran 2:10.48 and finished 6th in the 800 to earn her first All-American Honors. Elise Tropiano'09 added to her impressive resume wiht 2 more All-American performances in the Steeplechase (6th) and 5000 (8th) and finished the year with AA honors in XC, Indoors and Outdoors.
May 2008 - The 2008 Campaign comes to a close this weekend as 4 members of the team will compete at the National Championships at the University of Wisconsin Osh-Kosh. Peter Harrison'11 will compete in the 1500 for the men, while Heather Wilson'08 (10k), Elise Tropiano'09 (Steeple and 5k) and Kristen Ballinger'11 will run the 800. Up to this point, we have had a tremendous amount of success and look to continue it through one more weekend. We have seen several women's school records fall this year including the Hammer, 400, 800 and the 4x400 Relay. At the end of the month, in conjunction with the Alumni Weekend, we will be having an Alumni Reunion Run on Saturday May 31st at 9:00AM. This will be a 5k race / run on the trails of our XC course and please click here for more information REUNION RUN Also that weekend, on Friday, is the 2nd Annual Friends of Athletics Golf and Tennis Outing and for information on that, please click here ALUMNI GOLF OUTING
March 2008 - With only 2 weekends left of the Indoor season, we are quickly coming to a close of one season and just about to jump full swing into the next one. Who needs a break! We have had some tremendous success this season with a couple of highlights being the Women's 4 x 400 team of Carly Levenson, Mary Doris Reggie, Kristen Ballinger and Susie Wasserman running to a new school record of 3:56.86 and qualifying provisionally for NCAA's; First year Peter Harrison running 4:13.77 for the mile; Heather Wilson winning titles at DIII New England's in the 3k and DMR and then winning the 5k at All New England's, and earning a qualifier for NCAA's - an event in which Elise Tropiano has also qualified for. Little three's are at home this spring - April 22nd - so if you are around, and want to be around, then we would love to see you.
October 2007 - As we are well into the XC season, it means that the Track & Field season is not far off. While we are quite a few weeks away from any meets, I did want to make you all aware of one of our former student-athletes who has received National Accolades as a result of her success in the fields of academic success, athletic prowess, leadership and community service. Shauneen Garrahan'07 is one of Nine Finalist for the prestigious NCAA Woman of the Year Honors. She was the school's nominee this past spring, became the NESCAC's nominee shortly after and then recently, was named one of the finalist. The Woman of the Year Winner will be announced October 27th at an Awards Gala in Indianapolis. Full story can be found at Woman of the Year
Ideas that we have been working on
1. Establish an alumni member list - would have your names, class, residence and occupation to go along with email addresses so that you would be able to get in touch with former teammates. It is often at odd times in our lives where you think about a former teammate. Maybe, if this gets going and you find yourself on this site and there is a former teammate of yours with an email contact, it could be just the catalyst that you needed to drop them a line and re-connect?
2. Alumni Newsletter - should there be interest, and the web site is not as convenient for people, try to establish an email newsletter list in which members could receive updates throughout the season - perhaps every 2-3 weeks. It would be a quick recap of how things are going, latest news and what the team is up to.
3. Reunion Weekend 5k Run - am planning on having a 5k Track & XC Run on Reunion Weekend - running / walking the XC course and having a little breakfast get together afterwards. Whether you had been a XC running trackie or were in events that involved significantly less running, this is still a great way for the classes to get together, and of course families are welcome.
4. Increase Alumni Presence - would like to try to get you more involved in numerous ways ( am very welcome to listen to any ideas about how to do this, or enhance what is done) Things can be as simple as talking to a student-athlete that is in your area who may have the academic and athletic qualifications needed for Amherst or bringing them to my attention; looking at the schedules and taking some time to come out and cheer for the team when they are competing close by. Getting involved with the future of the program and voicing your thoughts and concerns about the direction that we are taking as we head into the coming years - staffing, facilities, the strength of the teams. Possibly establishing an Alumni event at a time other then the Reunion Weekend?
5. Merchandising - Tee Shirts, Sweat Shirts, Long Sleeve Shirts, Fleece Jackets and Hats. We have been working with a vendor - Maax Clothing - that would have a website that you would be able to go to directly and order the above items which would have a logo or writing - some printed and some embroidered - that you would be able to purchase. This is not a fundraising initiative but rather a way to provide opportunities to purchase attire that would identify you with the the program. You can go to the Amherst Track Gear link in the side column and follow directions on that site, which will get you access to be able to purchase a wide variety of clothing options.
