Amherst Results

Performer of the Meet: Alva Morales '14

To call the Lord Jeffs’ showcase at Springfield Invite #3 on February 4 “impressive” would be an understatement.  Our story’s heroes competed in 13 events, scored points in 11 of them (multiple entrants scoring in seven), won seven, set a school record and a facility record in one, and established a host of personal records.  The end result: an overall meet victory for Amherst College, secured with victories in the afternoon’s final two events.

Junior Selasie Krampa set the standard for the day in the 60m dash, the meet’s first track competition.  Although Krampa had missed the morning bus to Springfield, he arrived to the meet on his own and made no delays winning his heat and securing a position in the finals of the event, where he placed sixth in a personal best 7.31 seconds.  The three harriers in the 3,000m run followed in suit.  Junior Andrew Erskine quickly established dominance in the event that would ultimately result in a seven-second victory and a seven-second PR.  Classmate Dillon Buckley and first year KC Fussell jockeyed for position for much of the race, though in the end the junior’s kick propelled to third while the first year finished close behind in fifth.  Both set personal records in the event and all three qualified for DIII New England Championships.  The two juniors also hit marks good for ECAC Championships.  The mile run was the Jeffs’ next endeavor.  First-year distance runner Greg Turissini paced the three Jeffs who scored, placing third in 4:25.89.  Sophomore Charlie Reighard placed fourth, two seconds back, and junior Eli Howe notched sixth.  Reighard and Howe marked personal bests, as did senior Geoff Ainslie, who won the first heat, kicking down Oneonta’s Sam Kane.  The trio of events that followed the mile might have been Amherst’s most successful on the day.  In the 600m run, senior captain Ben Scheetz made his three-lap turn in a blistering 1:18.60 to win the event, setting a new personal record, a new school record, and a new facility record.  Sophomore Matt Melton stayed close on Scheetz through the 400 and powered his way to second place in a personal best 1:22.35, and first-year Alex Durkee grabbed sixth.  The 800m run saw junior Pat Grimes clock a 1:56.96 for the win and a new personal best, tailed by Lucas “It’s Gotta Be the Shoes” Lebovitz in second at just under 2:00 flat.  Finally, first-year Romey Sklar capped off the mid distance events with a 2:37.42 finish in the 1,000m run, clinching the overall win and, you guessed it, a personal record.  Although the finishes in the 200m dash did not contribute any points this week, the event saw notable performances by first-year Mark Cort and sophomore Javier Paulino, who finished one and two in their heat, Paulino making a return from injury that sidelined him for the better part of two weeks.  The meet’s final open event, the 5,000m run saw Fairfax County’s own Alva Morales take the crown in 15:28.12, a personal best by nearly 20 seconds.  Classmate Gus Greenstein finished fourth.  Both relay events featured two scoring Amherst teams.  In the 4x400m relay, the team of Nick Codola, Alex Durkee, Matt Melton, and Ben Scheetz finished first in 3:25.08, bolstered by an absolutely crushing 48.2 anchor from Scheetz, who took the baton in fourth and climbed to first.  The team of Wrenford Thaffe, Steve Hetterich, Selasie Krampa, and Kash Aleshinloye grabbed the final scoring spot in the event.  Competition on the track wrapped up with the DMR, in which the team comprising Charlie Reighard, Chris Erickson, Pat Grimes, and Lucas Lebovitz placed first and the team of Eli Howe, Pete Skurman, Geoff Ainslie, and Romey Sklar marked fourth.