Indoor TF Meet recap

Amherst College Sports Information Web Page Write-ups
Most recent meets appear first, scroll down for our past meets and their respective write-ups.

As the 2009-2010 indoor track and field season fast draws to a close, the Amherst College Lord Jeffs traveled to nearby Smith College to compete in the Eastern College Athletic Conference Division III Championships. Action started early Friday afternoon as sophomore Spencer Russell capped an outstanding sophomore campaign with a 6th-place finish in the 55m hurdles, clocking a time of 7.91 – a personal record by nearly a tenth of a second. The following afternoon, sophomore Ben Scheetz and junior Steve Corsello continued in form, grabbing points in the 800m run. The two finished 4th and 8th in 1:55.36 and 1:56.21. In the longer distances, junior Will Yochum sharpened up for the national competition, dropping down to the 1000m run, which he won going away in 2:29.49, and first-year Andrew Erskine wrapped up his first indoor season with an impressive 5th-place finish in the 3000m run in 8:43.74. The weekend’s relay highlight came from the men’s 4x400 squad comprising Andrew Reed, Tommy Moore, Kit Callahan, and Adron Pitmon, which placed 6th, led by the sophomore Reed, who finally unleashed the beast and ran the aggressive initial leg we all knew he had. In the field, junior Thebe Tsatsimpe leaped into 6th place in the long jump competition with a 6.72m effort.

On the women’s side, senior captain Sophie Galleher and first year Ali Simeone started the weekend strongly in the 5000m run, placing 4th and 5th. Both women ran NCAA provisional qualifying times, the former in 17:39.83 and the latter in 17:41.14. Saturday’s events saw continued excellent performances. Melissa Sullivan ran 2:15.43 to take second in the 800m run, leading teammates Mary Doris Reggie and Keri Lambert. Senior captain Hoiwan Cheung took home points in the 1000m run, finishing 6th, while first-year Lauren Almeida ran a PR at the same distance, after having run an excellent 1200 leg of the DMR the previous afternoon. Junior Susie Wasserman notched 5th in the 500, making the turn in 1:20.04. In the meet’s final open event, the 3000m run, Galleher returned to the track, joined by first year Sarah Daly. The two finished 2nd and 3rd in 10:26.10 and 10:32.90. The women’s 4x800m team of Sullivan, Cheung, Reggie, and Almeida provided the relay highlights, winning the event in a convincing, comfortable manner.

Now in the thick of championship season, a contingent of Lord Jeff men and women traveled to Boston University on Friday and Saturday to compete in Open New England Championships. The weekend’s events saw a number of PRs and NCAA marks. Friday’s action saw senior captain Kit Callahan and first year Adron Pitmon compete in the trial heats of the men’s 800m run. The former ran a PR in 1:56.60 and the latter continued on while path of improvement with a 1:57.39 following an illness-borne absence of much of the indoor season. In the men’s 1000m, first-year Patrick Grimes turned his five-lap effort in a personal best 2:31.78, which merited 12th place overall. In the men’s 5000m run, senior Carlyle Eubank and first year Andrew Erskine earned 5th and 15th place finishes in 14:49.22 and 15:10.87. Both times represent substantial PRs, and Eubank’s time earned him a close NCAA provisional mark. On the women’s side, senior Sophie Galleher took the unseeded 5,000m run in 17:46.77, lapping the entire field with the exception of first-year teammate Sarah Daly, who finished second in the heat in 18:18.24. As on the men’s side for the Lord Jeffs, both the senior and first year ran to personal records. In the evening’s relay action, the men’s DMR team of juniors Steve Corsello and T-Time Moore, sophomore Ben Scheetz, and senior Jimmy Swanson dashed to an NCAA automatic qualifying time of 9:56.73, 3rd overall, bolstered by Corsello’s Herculean 3:00.6 split in the 1200 leg. The time sets a new school record by some three seconds. The women’s DMR team comprising senior captains Hoiwan Cheung and Mary Doris Reggie, junior Susie Wasserman, and sophomore Melissa Sullivan merited their own NCAA qualifying mark, a provisional 12:00.83, brought home by Sullivan’s 4:54.6 anchor leg split.

Saturday’s open events were book ended for the Jeffs by two first year women. Keri Lambert was the first Lord Jeff to take the track and opened the day in appropriate fashion with 5:16.03 PR effort in the unseeded section of the women’s mile. In the seeded section of the same distance, sophomore Melissa Sullivan also ran a PR to take 6th place in 4:58.02. In the men’s seeded section of the mile, junior Will Yochum ran a blazing 4:09.41 to place 4th overall and meet an NCAA automatic qualifying mark. First year Ali Simeone was the final competitor in the open events for the Lord Jeffs and closed the day in appropriate fashion with a 10:08.73, 8th-place finish – and PR to boot – in the women’s 3,000m. Saturday’s relays featured the men’s and women’s 4x800 and 4x400 with three of the Lord Jeffs’ four teams scoring points. The men’s 4x800 grabbed 8th, led by a 1:55.8 anchor leg from Callahan, while then men’s 4x400 took 6th, and the women’s 4x800 held on to their own 8th-place mark.

Performers of the Meet: Kit Callahan '10, Chris Eaton '11 and Sophie Galleher '10

The Lord Jeff men’s and women’s track and field teams traveled this weekend to the surprisingly warm, inviting, and green northlands of New England to compete in the Division III New England Championships hosted by Bates for the men and the University of Southern Maine for the women. Perhaps inspired by the previous night’s viewing of Miracle, the men of Amherst tied the best overall finish in program history, placing fourth, a mere two points out of third. Sophomore Spencer Russell started the day by stealing points from his 16th seed in the 55m hurdles, placing 7th in 7.99s, a personal best and ECAC qualifying time. Amherst continued to collect points in the open events as junior Steve Corsello merited a 3rd-place finish in the men’s mile, and sophomore Ben Scheetz cruised to a 1st-place finish in the 600m, making the turn in 1:20.92. To round out the middle-distance scoring, senior Jimmy Swanson grabbed 8th place in the 1000m run, after beginning the race out of scoring position. The Jeffs also showed strongly in the long-distance events. Junior Will Yochum and senior Carlyle Eubank both scored in the 3000m, placing 3rd and 8th, and senior Dan Murner took the 5000m in convincing fashion, doubling from a mile earlier in the day. In the relays, the DMR team comprising seniors Will Bell and Christopher “Kit” Callahan and first years Adron Pitmon and Patrick Grimes finished in a close 2nd to MIT, with Grimes barely unable to hold off the late race charge by MIT’s mile leg. Andrew Reed, Ryan Drost, Andre Gary, and Tommy Moore teamed up in the 4x400m relay and claimed 6th, thanks to a stellar 3rd leg by Gary to keep the team competitive. Finally, Amherst saw victory on the track once again the day’s final event: the 4x800m relay. Swanson, Corsello, Callahan, and Scheetz all clocked in at sub-2:00 minute splits to win the event in 7:55.04. In the field, junior Thebe Tsatsimpe leaped to 6.90m, 3rd-place finish in the long jump, while his freshman year roommate, Chris Eaton, hurled the 35-pound weight 15.30m for a big PR and an ECAC qualifying mark.

At points south, the women enjoyed similar success, placing 8th overall in a field of 25 teams at the USM. Amherst’s scoring day began with the DMR team of first year Lauren Almeida, junior Zoe Pagonis, sophomore Liza Schalch, and first year Keri Lambert, who ran to an 8th place finish. The 5000m run saw the next Lord Jeff points, as first year Ali Simeone crossed the tape in 18:06.64, good enough for 3rd. The Jeffs also faired well in the long sprints and middle distances. In the 600m run, senior captain Mary Doris Reggie edged teammate Susie Wasserman by .4 seconds as the pair finished 4th and 6th. Sophomore Melissa Sullivan took the 800m run in an NCAA provisional qualifying time of 2:15.94, and senior captain Hoiwan Cheung clinched 3rd in the 1000m run in 3:02.29, a PR to boot. To conclude the afternoon’s open events, senior Sophie Galleher grabbed 3rd in the 3000m run in 10:24.93 from the unseeded section. In the 4x400m relay, Wasserman, Cheung, and Reggie teamed with first year Jade McKnight, herself doubling from an earlier open 400, to clock in at 4:04.50, while the 4x800m team of Schalch, Almeida, Lambert, and Sullivan ran 9:33.70 to take 2nd. In the field, sophomore Jordan Roehl barely missed a scoring position, but threw a substantial PR of 13.51m.

As the invitational portion of Amherst’s season drew to a close, the Lord Jeff men’s and women’s track teams ventured once again to the state capitol, this time to test their mettle at Boston University’s Valentine Invitational. Amherst’s competitive weekend got underway Friday afternoon with the women’s 500m run, in which junior Susie Wasserman and senior captain “Ragin’ Cajun” Mary Doris Reggie finished within three tenths of a second of one another 1:19.37 to 1:19.66 to place 15th and 21st. Action continued in the women’s mile with a field of five Lord Jeffs. Sophomore Melissa Sullivan led the charge in 4:58.91, good for 16th place and an NCAA provisional qualifying time in the event. In the women’s 800m run, senior captain Hoiwan Cheung ran to a PR of 2:20.64. Further highlights for the Jeffs would be found in the 5000m run. Freshman Ali Simeone placed 16th in 17:55.70 to lead a field of six Amherst runners, including first year Rebecca Alizzi, who capped her season with an outstanding race to clock in at 19:26.46. In the evening’s relays, first year Jade McKnight teamed with Sullivan, Reggie, and Wasserman for a 4:01.58 turn in the 4x400.

Friday night also featured the first event of the men’s meet: the distance medley relay. Juniors Steve Corsello and Tommy Moore teamed with sophomore Ben Scheetz and senior Jimmy Swanson to clock a 10:00.90 for a 5th place finish and an NCAA provisional qualifying time. In the men’s 400m dash, the Lord Jeffs posted three times under 51 seconds as sophomore Andrew Reed, and juniors Tommy Moore and Andre Gary crossed in 50.39, 50.49, and 50.82. Senior Keith Pendergrass took advantage of the venue to run a substantial indoor PR at 52.21. The men’s mile saw excellent performances from junior Steve Corsello and first year Pat Grimes. Corsello completed his run in 4:14.79, an indoor PR and provisional qualifying time and Grimes notched a PR of his own at 4:19.19. The 800m run saw Scheetz nab another provo time – but just barely – with his 19th place 1:54.19. In one of the day’s more exciting events, the Danimal left his mark on the oval. Senior captain Dan Murner took the men’s 5000m run with a 28-second final lap to cross the finish line in a smoking 14:24.22. The time represents an NCAA automatic qualifying time and the fastest DIII time in the nation. He also crushed his own school record by some 23 seconds. Last, but in no way, shape, or form least, in Saturday’s relays, Moore, Gary, Reed, and Scheetz teamed in the 4x400m relay to place 13th in 3:18.48, highlighted by Scheetz’s 47.56 split. The team’s time shattered the previous school record of 3:21.85 and represents yet another NCAA provisional qualifier

The Amherst College Lord Jeffs men’s and women’s track and field teams continued their strong showings throughout their invitational schedules as they traveled to Smith College to compete in the Tartan Invitational. Junior Chris Eaton set the tone for the day in the men’s weight throw, heaving the thirty-five pound implement an even 48 feet, earning 3rd place. Classmate Kevin Hanley followed suit with a 2nd place finish in the 5,000m run, the day’s first track event. In the short sprint events, sophomore Spencer Russell grabbed another third place finish for the Jeffs, running 8.05 for the 55m hurdles – his best time of the season by .15 seconds. In the men’s mile, junior Will Yochum torched the competition, winning the event in a NCAA Provisional qualifying time of 4:13.79. He was followed by senior captain Dan Murner and first year Andrew Erskine in 2nd and 3rd. In the men’s 400m dash, junior Andre Gary took an early lead; however, as the race continued classmate Tommy Moore and sophomore Andrew Reed demonstrated their strength and ran down the wide receiver in the final 100m of the event. Ultimately, all three crossed the line within one tenth of a second, finishing 4th, 5th, and 6th overall; Reed in 51.63, Moore in 51.70, and Gary in 51.73. Sophomore Ben Scheetz constituted Amherst’s only entry in the men’s 500. He led from the gun and never looked back, crossing the line in 1:05.36. Amherst also notched a 1st place finish in the men’s 600m run, as senior captain Kit Callahan made his turn in 1:25.32 – one of his best races of the season. Junior Ryan Drost picked up points in 3rd. Junior Steve Corsello took the men’s 800m run in a swift 1:55.76, his best time on the season. Will Yochum returned to double in the men’s 1,000m run, finishing within a hair of 1st place. He was followed closely by senior Jimmy Swanson, who finished 3rd. To round out the men’s open events, Spencer Russell took 8th in the 200, and senior Carlyle Eubank made his glorious return to the oval after a short hiatus, capturing the top spot in the 3,000m run in 8:51.34. At day’s end, the Jeffs mustered enough energy to field two 2nd place relay teams – Moore, Gary, Drost, and Reed in the 4x400 and Corsello, Swanson, Bell, and Callahan in the 4x800.

The women enjoyed similar success. In the field events, Sophomore Jordan Roehl brought newfound energy to the throwing circle and launched her farthest shot put of the season to grab 5th place. First year Jess Mueller followed suit, jumping her farthest of the season in the triple to take 4th. In the 5,000m run, Amherst’s Laura Zaccagnino, Abby Hopper, and Anna Hager captured 3rd, 5th, and 6th in 19:29.74, 20:14.73, and 20:41.21. In the short sprints, first year Jade McKnight shattered her previous season best in the 55m dash by .15s to place 4th in 7.74. Subsequently, first years Ali Simeone and Lauren Almeida placed 2nd and 3rd in the women’s mile in a field that included four other Lord Jeffs. The women’s 600m proved an exciting race as senior captain Hoiwan Cheung aggressively took the lead from the gun and held it through the quarter-mile split. As she began to fade, classmate Mary Doris Reggie and junior Susie Wasserman began to climb. Reggie ultimately edged Wasserman at the line as the two placed 1st and 2nd, while Cheung merited 4th. The women’s 800m saw another Amherst win, with first year Keri Lambert recording an impressive 2:22.41 and teammate Liza Schalch following in 2:25.68 for 3rd. Sophomore Melissa Sullivan ran away with the women’s 1,000m in 3:01.32, while in the day’s final open event, the 3000m, Melissa Pritchard took second in just under 11:00. In the relays, both the women’s 4x400m team and the women’s 4x800m team obliterated their competition, the former in 4:08.60 and the latter in 9:50.28.

On a clear Friday afternoon, a contingent of Lord Jeff runners and jumpers traveled to Boston to compete in the collegiate division of the Boston Indoor Games. In the face of stiff and fierce competition, a number of Jeffs, particularly among the men, performed notably. In the men’s mile, senior Jimmy Swanson grabbed an 8th place scoring position with a 4:20.91, eight-lap trip around the oval, and in the men’s 400m dash, junior Andre Gary notched a 7th-place finish overall from the second heat in just over 52 seconds, leading from the gun. Junior Tommy Moore posted another outstanding finish for the Lord Jeff men in the 500m run, crossing the line in 1:07.34 – good enough for 8th place, and a PR of just over two and a half seconds. In the women’s 800m run, sophomore Melissa Sullivan placed 5th with a 2:17.83 PR. She led the Amherst crew of five 800m women, which included senior captains Hoiwan Cheung and Mary Doris Reggie, who continued their streak of close finishes: Cheung in 2:21.38 and Reggie on her shoulder in 2:21.65. The times represent meaningful improvement over last year’s in the event for both women. In the men’s 800m run, Amherst veritably stole the show. For nearly 700 meters, sophomore Ben Scheetz dueled for the lead with Maine’s Miles Bartlett, fending off two strong, mid-race moves. Although Scheetz ultimately fell to second place, he clocked in at 1:54.93, an indoor PR and nearly an NCAA provisional qualifying time. Following Scheetz were first year Patrick Grimes, crossing 1:57.94 for 5th place, and senior captain Kit Callahan, who placed 9th in 2:00.03. The Jeffs grabbed points again in the men’s 1000m run, in which junior Steve Corsello placed 5th with an official time of 2:32.06. The women’s 3000m run featured another large Amherst crew. First year Ali Simeone’s 10:26.01, 11th place finish led the group of five runners. In the final individual event of the day, Amherst harriers Dan Murner and Will Yochum provided fireworks in the men’s 5000m run. Murner performed strongly from the gun, maintaining good positioning throughout the race. Late in the race, when it looked as if Murner would fade, teammate Yochum hit his stride in a slow climb from the trailing pack to the lead pack and eventually into the lead. Then, with 200 meters remaining in the race, Murner, not to be outdone, unleashed a vicious kick and propelled himself to the win placing first overall to Yochum’s second 14:52.37 to 14:52.47. As the day closed, the Jeffs proved no less impressive in the relays than in the open events. The women’s DMR team of Keri Lambert, Susie Wasserman, Hoiwan Cheung, and Melissa Sullivan grabbed fourth with a 12:19.06, capped by Sullivan’s 5:03 mile leg, while both men’s DMRs finished top eight. In the 4x400m relay, the Amherst men’s team comprising Tommy Moore, Andre Gary, Ben Scheetz, and Andrew Reed nearly edged cross-town D1 rival UMass but ultimately finished behind them in 3rd, nevertheless running a solid 3:23.57 led by a 48.8 third leg from Scheetz. Finally, it was a quiet day in the field for the Jeffs, but junior Thebe Tsatsimpe did merit 3rd place in the long jump with a 6.69m effort.

As Interterm 2010 drew to a close on the advent of the resumption of the academic year, our beloved Lord Jeff men’s and women’s teams ventured south on I-91 to Middletown, Connecticut to compete in the Wesleyan Invitational. The women in the 5000m run started the day strongly. Junior Melissa Pritchard recorded the win in 19:20.37, leading from the gun. Freshmen Rebecca Alizzi, Abby Hopper, and Anna Hagar followed in suit, all finishing in fewer than twenty-one minutes. Trial heats for the men’s and women’s 55m dash and hurdles – the “fastest events on the track” – followed the women’s 5000m run. Sophomore Spencer Russell returned to competition in the hurdles following a short hiatus. He qualified for the finals and ultimately recorded an 8.20 finish, placing 6th. After competing in the longer sprints last week, first-year Ofori Amponsah eagerly returned to the dash, where he too qualified for finals and placed 5th in 6.74 seconds. In the women’s mile, first years Ali Simeone, Lauren Almeida, Sarah Daly, and Elodie Reed finished first through fourth, leading a field that included four other Amherst women. On the men’s side of the same distance, first-year Patrick Grimes unleashed an aggressive 200-meter surge late in the race to overtake senior Dan Murner as the two crossed the line, only to discover that, in fact, another 200 meters remained. Grimes died quickly, falling well out of contention, while Murner ultimately regained and held the lead to finish. The men’s mile also featured the day’s truly outstanding performance; junior Jack Seaver turned a 4:30.46 to finish second and utterly smash his previous personal record. In the women’s 400m dash, first-year Jade McKnight doubled from a 55m dash to finish 6th overall from the second heat, having led from gun to line. The 600m run saw Amherst victories on both the men’s and women’s side from sophomores Ben Scheetz and Melissa Sullivan. Other top finishers included Tommy Moore, who placed 4th on the men’s side. The women’s 800m run featured most of the women from the open mile. Junior Susie Wasserman, having returned from spending a semester south of the border, placed second and Simeone came back from her win in the longer event to grab fourth in her double. On the men’s side, first-year Adron Pitmon cruised to a 1:57.58, good enough for third in the meet and nearly qualifying him for ECAC championships. Senior Jimmy Swanson ran a 1:58.77 to place fourth in first track competition of his final year. In the women’s 1000m run, senior captain Hoiwan Cheung demonstrated newfound strength, sealing the overall victory in an impressive 3:08.12. First year Keri Lambert and junior Zoe Pagonis followed in 3rd and 4th. In the men’s 1000m, senior Will Bell took 3rd in 2:36.35. The men’s 200m dash saw sophomore sensation Andrew Reed blaze to a 6th place 23.32 from the fourth heat. Junior Thebe Tsatsimpe also ran under twenty-four seconds and placed 10th. In the final open event of the day, the 3000m run, sophomore Laura Zaccagnino placed third on the women’s side in 10:59.81, while on the men’s side junior Will Yochum won in a smooth 8:33.77, followed by classmate John McGrail, who placed second. As the track day closed with the relays, Melissa Sullivan, Zoe Pagonis, Lauren Almeida, and Keri Lambert teamed up in the women’s DMR to take 1st, and in the men’s DMR, Jimmy Swanson, Tommy Moore, Patrick Grimes, and Adron Pitmon bested Ben Scheetz, Ryan Drost, Kit Callahan, and Will Bell in a 2-3 finish.

As action proceeded around them on the track, in the infield, sophomore Jordan Roehl returned to the circle and put the shot 10.6m for a 7th place finish, while first-year Jess Mueller made her debut in the high jump, sailing over the bar at 1.41m to tie senior Jennifer Rybak for 6th place

Following two weeks of Interterm double sessions, the Amherst College Lord Jeffs traveled cross state on the Mass Pike to Brandeis University beneath clear, warm skies at the height of the legendary New England January thaw to compete in Reggie Poyau Track Meet. The Jeffs made their mark early. In the men’s 3000m run, senior captain Dan Murner battled Brandeis’s Devon Holgate, with the former finishing in a close second of 8:44.91, following a late surge in the final 200 meters in which Murner gained the lead and nearly won. “Danimal” led five other Amherst harriers in the race, as first years Andrew Erskine, Dillon Buckley, junior Travis Cohoon, first year Patrick Grimes, and junior Jack Seaver finished 6th, 9th, 11th, 13th, and 14th. On the women’s side of the same distance, first year Sarah Daly finished 5th in 10:42.74 to lead a pack of Amherst runners comprising Senior Cate Knuff, first years Rebecca Alizzi and Abby Hopper, and sophomore Anna Hagar, who crossed the line at 7th, 8th, 9th, and 11th. In the sprints, Spencer Russell took a weekend away from the hurdles to compete in the 55m dash. Amidst speculation that the field might not have been able to hear the starter’s gun over Spencer’s hair, the sophomore posted a 4th place, 6.96 effort in the finals. He was joined in the event by first year Wrenford Thaffe, who made his collegiate debut with a 7.48 run in the preliminaries, good for 14th. First year Jade McKnight constituted Amherst’s lone entrant on the women’s side and placed 4th in the finals with a DIII-qualifying mark of 7.89 in her dash debut. The field in the men’s mile included five Lord Jeffs, who finished 5th, 7th, 9th, 11th, and 16th. Senior captain Kit Callahan led the group, barely edging classmate Dan Murner, while senior Will Bell crossed the line with Andrew Erskine hot on his heels, and Travis Cohoon rounding out the Amherst entries. In the women’s mile, sophomore Melissa Sullivan led from the gun to a 5:08.08 finish to clinch first by a little over a tenth of a second. First year Keri Lambert followed in 5th, and Sarah Daly, Rebecca Alizzi, Anna Hagar, and Jamila Odeh crossed in 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th.

Seven – yes, seven – Amherst men competed in the 400m dash, three of whom ran under 52 seconds. Sophomore Andrew Reed, having recovered from a football season to remember, led the Jeff with a 51.60, 3rd place finish. Junior Tommy Moore, never to be found far from Reed, placed fourth in 51.71, and junior Thebe Tsatsimpe, who took 1st in the men’s long jump with a 6.48m leap, shed a full second from his time in December, crossing in 51.78. Junior Andre Gary, senior captain Larry Thompson, classmate Keith Pendergrass, and first year Ofori Amponsah finished in 6th, 11th, 12th, and 16th. In contrast, the women’s 400 featured only two Jeffs. First year Jess Mueller placed 5th with a 65.85 and senior Caroline Darmody placed 8th with a 71.03. Mueller also placed 4th in the triple jump and 5th in the long. Junior Ryan Drost led a trio of Amherst long sprinters in the men’s 600m run with a 1:27.04, good for 7th. Sophomores Chris Erickson and Pete “Clown Shoes” Skurman finished in 11th and 16th. In the women’s 600, senior captain Mary Doris Reggie and junior Susie Wasserman placed first and second in a thrilling 1:41.02 to 1:41.03 finish. The men’s 800m run contained three Amherst runners, doubling from the 3000m run earlier. Grimes led them with a tenacious 2nd place finish in 2:00.33. Buckley and Seaver followed in 8th and 9th. On the women’s side, senior captain Hoiwan Cheung finished in a close 3rd at 2:22.24 and junior Zoe Pagonis crossed in 2:27.95 for 7th. The men’s 1000m run saw sophomore Ben Scheetz and first year Adron Pitmon continue their string of 1/2 finishes, this time in 2:32.93 and 2:34.38, respectively. In the women’s 1000, Melissa Sullivan doubled from the mile to finish in a 3:01.87, good for 2nd place. First year Lauren Almeida, sophomore Eliza Schalch, and first year Elodie Reed took 4th, 5th, and 7th. Fresh from a relaxing 400 meters, Ofori Amponsah sailed to a 24.60, 7th place finish in the men’s 200. Classmate Wrenford Thaffe took 19th, with a 26.47 run. In the women’s event, McKnight took Emmanuel’s Simone Ford at the line to win the event in a cool 27.95. Senior Caroline Darmody placed 14th in 32.74. Junior Kevin Hanley flew solo for the Lord Jeffs in the men’s 5000m run, taking fourth in 16:14.29; however, sources close to the program have said that his “power beard” created too much drag and likely cost him a greater PR. The women recorded a 1/2 finish in the 5000m as senior captain Sophie Galleher and first year Ali Simeone crossed in 18:49.07 and 18:49.46. Sophomore Shannon McKenna placed 5th.

The day closed with a flurry of relays. The men’s 4x400m saw 400 men Reed, Tsatsimpe, and Moore joined by Russell to finish in 3:27.73 for 3rd. For the women, McKnight, Mueller, Darmody and Simeone, having come immediately from the 5000m, placed 4th in 4:38.61. Both genders fielded two teams in the 4x800m relay. Bell, Pitmon, Scheetz, and Callahan teamed up to finish in a 1st place 8:04.38 run, while Drost, Erickson, Skurman, and Pendergrass stretched their legs in a sixth place finish just over the nine-minute mark. Finally, in the women’s 3200m relay, Cheung joined with Reggie, Almeida, and Wasserman for another Amherst win, this one in 9:50.47, and Schalch, Pagonis, Reed, and Galleher closed out the day in 10:24.99.

Performers of the Meet: Thebe Tsatsimpe '11, Spencer Russell '12 and Jordan Roehl '12

As winter reared its chilly head in western Massachusetts and the Pioneer Valley received a light dusting of snow, the Lord Jeff men and women ignited the track, the throwing circle, and the jumping pits at the Smith College Winter Classic. Amherst’s exploits began early in the day in the throwing circle, where sophomore Jordan Roehl and junior Chibuzo Uwakaneme set the tone for the rest of the meet. Both Jordan and Chi set new personal records in the women’s weight throw. Jordan’s one-turn throw of 12.96m was merited 2nd place overall, a school record, and shows undeniable potential as she adds further rotations, while Chi’s well executed, two-turn hurl of 10.60m earned 7th place and represented an improvement of over 1m from her best throw of last season. Their success continued in the shot put – Jordan’s farthest throw of 10.94m earned 2nd place, and Chi’s throw of 8.85m tied her indoor PR from last year. Also in the field, first year Jess Mueller’s and junior Thebe Tsatsimpe’s leaped to 4th place finishes in the women’s triple jump and men’s high jump. Jess bounded to a 10.06m effort, and Thebe floated over the bar to a graceful 1.76m mark.