OutdoorTF 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.

The 2013 season came to an end at Springfield College, with the running of the ECAC Championships on Thursday and Friday. The combination of final exams, lengthy papers and lack of sleep do not usually equate to great results, and this year was no real exception. Some years the ECAC will be a week after finals, and things come together real well but this year was not the case, and while the desire and conviction was ever present - the effort needed to get work done ultimately seemed to take its toll - especially in the later stages of races. On Thursday, Josiah competed in the javelin and was throwing into a brutal cross wind that was wreaking havoc on the field, and he was only able to get the javelin out to 164 feet, good for 21st. Meet delays for whatever reason pushed the 5k & 10k start times back 45 minutes later but would ultimately make for better conditions - little cooler and less windy. Charlie and Dillon got after it in the 5k, and were both hoping to improve their times from early in the season but despite valiant efforts, it was not going to be in the cards. Charlie moved up a few spots over the last mile after a conservative start and would finish in 11th, while Dillon would come through in 17th. In the 10k, Andrew went after it with the early leaders going through the 3m in 14:50, but would start to fade just after the 4 mile but held on to grab a 4th place, running 31:38. On the second day, the 1500 was the first event to get under way and Greg was in good position through the first couple of laps but looked like the well was empty when he went to it in the final 300 and he would finish in 4:01. Grimey was in the 2nd section, and he took the lead into the win bringing the field through a solid opening 800 in 2:03 and continued to lead through about the 1000m mark before getting passed and the wind came out of his sails and he struggled home in 4:03 - unfortunately, shy of the time he would need to move on to NCAA's. Matt Melton was the next to go in the 4th of 5th sections in the 400m and he won his section decisively in a new PR of 48.57 and would ultimately grab 6th place. The 800 would be the days final individual events as Brent would use a big kick on the last 150 to run away with his section, winning in 1:54.81 and placing 11th overall, before literally running to the car to get back to school for a final exam. Romey would compete in the next section, and ran a 1:54.95 to place 15th overall. The 4x800 would be the final event of the year for the men, and it gave a chance for two guys to get one more race under their belts - the first being senior Eli Howe who would fittingly lead things off as he ran 2:00.8, and was followed by first year Jeff Seelaus who ran 1:59.2 before handing off to Matt whose 2:01 carry gave the stick to Grimey for his final collegiate race, as he finished things off with a 1:58 carry, helping the team to a 12th place finish.

The men got the chance to head to a new site - Stonehill College - for the NEICAAA New England Championships, competing against guys across all three divisions. Despite the impending final exams, and the late nights already with papers and studying, the team did pretty well, and certainly the highlight was a new school record in the 4x800. The former standard was set back in 2009 of 7:44, and the guys had this targeted all week. Nick Codola led things off and kept the team right in the mix with a big carry and 800 PR of 1:56.6 and handing off in 4th or 5th. Brent Harrison would take his turn next, and after opening up in a 54.7 he jumped out to the lead on the backstretch before coming into the line in 3rd with his 1:56.8 leg and gave the baton to Romey Sklar who turned in a 55.2 first lap while chasing the leaders and making up ground and handing off in 2nd with his 1:55.2 leg. Grimey would take the final turn, and maybe in his last relay duty in an Amherst uniform, was able to bring the baton around in 1:53.8, finishing just behind Hartford in their section but finishing in 7:42.80 to knock a couple of seconds off the record, and also grabbing the 8th and final scoring place. Andrew Erskine would run to his best time of the season in the 5k - running 14:49 and grabbing 7th place in the process to earn All New England honors. Grimes, earlier in the day in a driving rain would finish 10th overall in the 1500, running 3:55 while in the 1st of 3 sections, Greg Turissini would run to a time of 3:59.00 which extends his season and gives him the opportunity to drop that time further at ECAC this Friday. Dillon Buckley and Charlie Reighard finished 3rd and 5th in their section of the steeplechase, running 9:40 and 9:44 respectively while Matt Melton grabbed 19th overall in the 800, as he was through the 600 in 1:22 with the leaders but would fade in the homestretch but ran to a season best time of 1:54.23. With ECAC's at Springfield on Thursday and Friday, the guys will have a final chance to improve upon times or potentially extend their season for one more meet by qualifying for the NCAA's which will be held the following week in Wisconsin.

The men the long trek to Colby for the DIII New England Championships, and one couldn't ask for better conditions for a track meet. After a rough start on Friday in the hammer, with neither Denzel or Josiah able to get themselves mark, things got better on the 2nd day. The 800 was the event of the day for the team as we went 3 for 3 in the PR department. Romey Sklar - coming in with the slowest qualifying time and competing in the first section, went through the first 400 in 56.2 and then took the lead at the 300 mark and never looked back as he grabbed the section win and a big PR of 1:54.66. 2 sections later, Pat Grimes and Brent Harrison lined up together and using Romey's race as momentum they got out hard - Grimey in 54.1 and Brent 54.7 then 600 in 1:23.2 and 1:24 and came home in 1:52.98 for Grimey and Brent dipping under 1:55 with his 1:54.79. Matt Melton grabbed a new PR with his 3rd place finish in the 400, running 48.63 and then also grabbed another PR in the 200 running 22.69. Josiah shook off the effects of the Hammer in a REAL big way in the Javelin as he launched his first throw over 10 feet beyond his PR and not only set a new PR but also came out of the unseeded flight to grab a 5th place finish -also having another mid 55 meter bomb. Charlie Reighard had a great race in the steeplechase as he easily won the unseeded section in a 20+ second PR - running 9:43 and looking like a seasoned veteran in the water pit. Dan Crowley would be at 10:00 in the same heat, and then Greg Turissini would finish 11th overall from the seeded section in a 9:42. Andrew Erskine challenged both Mother Nature's heat and Conn College's Mike Leduc in the 5k but ended up on the short of both sticks but was able to hang on valiantly, and throw down a strong finish in the last 100m to grab a 7th place finish in 15:00, while Dillon was bested by the heat a bit as well, coming home in 15:33. The 4x800 relay grabbed a 4th place in the unseeded section, and then excitedly watched the seeded section's 5th place teams and beyond come in after their time so that they picked up the final scoring points with their 7:55 that saw Matt Woop lead off in 1:58.8, followed by Greg in 1:59, Jeff with a 55 second opening 400 to bring him to a hard fought 1:57.8 and Romey bringing it home in 1:59.

The guys headed to Tufts for the NESCAC Championships - this kick starts a series of weekends of Championship Meets in which qualifying standards are needed in order to advance to them. For the first time this season, the weather was not a factor, as beautiful conditions were had throughout the day and the guys did a great job of taking advantage of both competition and conditions. A repeat in the Performer of the meet for the team, as Brent and Josiah had the biggest performances on the day. Brent grabbed a 9th place finish in the 800 - missing out on a scoring spot by .01 with his big PR run of 1:55.05, using a great closing 100m to get his marks through ECAC. Josiah had a pair of 4th place finishes, each with PR tosses, in the javelin and the discus. His 174 foot javelin throw - despite favoring a sore elbow - would garner his first points of the day, and he launched the discus 141 feet to grab another 4th place finish. A trio of 3rd place finishes by Matt Melton in the 400, Patrick Grimes in the 1500 and Andrew Erskine would be the high placings for the team. Andrew did the lions share of the work in the 10k through the 4 Mile - hitting around 5:00 minute miles and improved upon last years finish, in a 31:13 while KC Fussell had put himself into the Top 4 for the majority of the race but fell off the pack and looked on his way out but used a great rally in the last 23 laps, blasting a 65 quarter to hold onto his 6th place. Grimey worked his way towards the front of the pack after a slower first 800, and a 3rd quarter dropping to 60 set the stage for an exciting finish and he came off the turn well to grab a 3rd place finish, while Romey would grab 12th in the same heat. Jeff Seelaus finished 2nd in the unseeded section, with a strong last 400 to finish in 4:06 and both Eli Howe and Lucas Lebovitz came through in their best times on the season. Javy Paulino just missed extending his season in the 200 as he raced to a 23.04 - a PR by almost half a second - to finish 15th with Ralph Washington coming in a few ticks behind in 19th. Mark Cort and Steve Hetterich each got over 20 feet in the long jump, placing 14th and 15th, and then a near 42 foot jump put Mark in the finals of the triple Jump where he would place 9th, with Khalil Fleming jumping over 41 feet to grab 14th. Denzel Duncan made finals in the Hammer, finishing 9th with a 154 foot throw, then made the finals -0 again placing 9th - in the shot put with a 44 foot throw but unfortunately on his 2nd throw in he finals, he got his toe caught under the loose toe board and would wrench his hamstring really bad and be unable to get his last throw off, or compete in the discus. Matt Woop and Alex Durkee each raced under the 2:00 mark in the 800. Greg Turissini and Dillon Buckley finished 10th and 11th in the steeplechase. The Distance Medley Relay of Greg, Mark, Romey and Grimes finished 5th overall in 10:28 while the 4x400 relay of Nick, Brent, Durk and Melton would also grab a scoring point as they finished 8th, and getting the final points to secure a 6th place team finish.

This year's running of the Little Three Championship would also mark the final meet on the track at Williams College, as they are set to undergo a track renovation - ironically within the next year all 3 schools will have new tracks. Like every meet thus far this spring, conditions were in the low 50's and windy, and when the sun went behind the clouds it became pretty chilly but despite the weather, the guys competed great and were able to beat Wesleyan to take 2nd overall. Josiah Terrell-Perica grabbed one of the days two victories - taking the crown in the discus throw with a throw of 135 feet, and was also busy in the other throwing events grabbing a 2,3 and 4th place in the jav (170), Hammer 138 and 38 in the shot. His throwing partner, captain Denzel Duncan had a great finish to the day as he broke 44 feet in the shot put with his runner up toss, while also grabbing a runner-up spot in the hammer over 150 feet, as well as a 3rd in the discus. The recently anointed class senator, KC Fussell would grab the day's other victory as he put his foot down in the last 1200 of the 5k to comfortably win in a 15:17, with Dillon Buckley grabbing points with his 5th place. Steve Hetterich got out over 6 meters for the first time in he Long Jump to grab 5th, and had some bombs in the Triple Jump that were negated by slight fouls though his distance into the pit got his teammates pumped up as Khalil Fleming got out to 42 feet to grab 2nd and Mark Cort grabbed 5th, a couple of inches behind. Matt Melton showed off his speed and versatility as he was the team's top guy in both the 200 and 400 - finishing 3rd and 2nd respectively - while also grabbing points in the High Jump and competing in the long jump. Patrick Grimes - running on tired legs from his 1500 the night before - led a 2-3 finish with Romey Sklar in the 800, as they ran 1:57 and 1:57.43 - Romey would also grab a 3rd place finish in the javelin. Dan Crowley, despite being plagues by a cold for most of the week, was able to break 10:00 in his steeplechase debut to get 3rd while Lucas Lebovitz grabbed 4th. Ralph Washington had the top finish on the team in the 100 with his 6th place to go along with his 9th place in the 200, but in both races, Javy Paulino was able to race to new PR's despite the chilly conditions coming in just behind. Greg Turissini was the top runner in the 1500 for the team, as he ran to a 4:03 and 6th place with Dillon Buckley coming through in 4:07 in the early section. Brent Harrison grabbed points in the 400 with his 51.75 getting him 6th, and then joined with Nick Codola. Melton and Grimes to finish 2nd in the day's final event, the 4x400, as they ran 3:31.07 to close out the day.

While the large majority of the team would focus on Little Three's, Patrick Grimes for the 1500 and Andrew Erskine for the 5000, made the 4 hour trek down to Princeton to compete in the Larry Ellis Invitational on Friday night, in the distance portion of Princeton's meet. Hoping for fast times in both races, the guys walked away with mixed results. In the 1st section of the 1500, the race went out in a pedestrian 65 seconds with Grimey at the back of the pack, and a 2nd lap found him moving up towards the front as they hit 2:08, and then a 3rd lap of 62 put him in contention at the front but the work to get there took its toll and the legs didn't turn over as hoped and he came through in 3:59. The foul weather that had been forecasted held off for nearly the whole meet - leaving just one event before the skies opened up and the rain came - unfortunately that one event, the final one on the evening was also the one in which Andrew was in. Despite the rain, Andrew went through the mile in 4:41 and the 2 mile in 9:27 and was in the Top 10 where he would fight to finish in, as he came through in 9th in 14:51.13

The guys headed down the hill to compete against a strong field of teams at the UMass Invitational. With transportation time consisting of an abbreviated warm-up, the day seemed shorter than normal for a meet day, and as we have been using their track for practice this spring due to the construction of ours, it was like a home meet without all the hassle of running it yourself. With a good balance of DI, II and III teams, the guys put forth a great effort finishing 7th overall, and a lot of great individual efforts resulting in PR's and qualifying marks for the championships. While those on the oval certainly shone, today was a day that really was a throwers day. In an effort to keep the meet running smoothly, minimum marks were put into place that the throwers had to hit otherwise not get measured - after their first legal mark. The minimum marks were at such high levels that in the hammer, discus and javelin - people were in the finals without even having hit a mark. Josiah had a big day as he PR's in the discus by 6-7 feet as he almost broke 42m, and grabbed 4th place - a DIII NE mark - while Denzel had a great throw that fell just inches shy of the measure mark and would have been a new PR. In the hammer, Jo got things started as he launched the ball & chain 3m farther then before, cracking 150 feet and temporarily taking the team lead on the year BUT captain Denzel would find an answer as he connected on a big throw of his own, sending out nearly 155 feet to finish 5th and both guys, qualifying for DIII NE's and almost hitting the ECAC mark. Captain Dillon Buckley would grab the day's lone victory, as he defended his Steeplechase title from last year, running to the win in a 9:35.50 and leading Greg Turissini and Charlie Reighard to a 1-2-4 finish. Pat Grimes dropped down to the 800, and grabbed a runner-up spot and a big PR as he raced under 1:55 for the first time in his career with his 1:53.77 finish, with matt Melton on his heels in 4th. In the next section, first year classmates Brent Harrison and Jeff Seelaus each had great races with Brent hitting a new PR with his 1:57 clocking while Jeff came in under 2:00, and as though the first sections set the tone, Matt Woop would have a huge race of his own coming in with a 1:58 finish while Lucas Lebovitz dropped down to test the wheels and nearly broke 2:00. In an early section in the morning, Alex Durkee had a great race to win his section in a 2:01 as he rounds back into shape. Romey Sklar grabbed scoring points and a big PR in the 1500 with his 4:02 finish, just ahead of KC Fussell's PR run of 4:04 - proving his distance dominance as Andrew Erskine came in just behind his with a 4:05. First year Dan Crowley got after it in the 5k, and ran to a great time of 15:20 showing that he ready to tackle the steeplechase, while grabbing some scoring points for the team with his PR run. Nick Codola had a great open 400 as he broke 51 for the first time, just missing the scoring points with his 50.98 and then got the 4x400 relay team a great leadoff leg, handing off in 2nd place with his 51 second carry before Melton crushed the field to open a gap with his 47 carry, and Brent would run 3rd leg and his 50.7 leg put anchor leg Grimey right in the mix and he brought the baton home in 5th place with a great carry. Steve Hetterich continues to improve in the triple jump, finding himself in the finals again, and ultimately finishing 9th place. Persie Gijima would grab the king of the 100 title, and then in the 200 later in the day, Ralph Washington would take the sprint crown back, just ahead of Javy Paulino's best time of the season.

A shorter drive down to Springfield helped to offset a long day at the track but the wind managed to keep things chilly and make the day feel a little longer. The 10k got the day started, and mid 30's with a strong wind combined with 25 laps made for a long race but Andrew Erskine and KC Fussell, along with Coach Mears who was also racing the 10k, worked well together to keep laps right around a 5:10 mile pace as they looked for a controlled effort on the day and ultimately went 1-2 at 32:12 and 32:19, with Ben in 3rd at 32:22. The days other victory came at the legs of Matt Melton who sped to an easy victory in the 400, opening up the season with a convincing 48.75 to win by over a second. In the Hammer, Denzel Duncan threw over 146 feet to grab 4th place while Josiah launched the ball to a new PR of 140 feet to grab 5th place. Both would score in other throwing events as Denzel grabbed 7th in the shot at 12.81m while Josiah grabbed the final scoring spot in the discus at 37m. Patrick Grimes led a strong 1500 contingent as he finished 2nd in 3:57 while Greg Turissini and Charlie Reighard would come in at 4:30 in 6th and 7th, while Dan Crowley would grab 2nd in the earlier section of the 1500 in 4:10 and finish 17th with Dillon Buckley and Jeff Seelaus also cracking the Top 25. Steve Hetterich grabbed a couple of points in the triple jump with his 12.41 jump as well as a good effort in the 400 earlier that deadened the legs a bit. In the short sprints, it was Ralph Washington leading the team this week as he grabbed points in the 200 as well as a big PR of 23.12 to go along with another PR in the100 from earlier in 11.48 - despite the chilly temps. He joined with Javy Paulino, Persie Gijima and Khalil Fleming to get the baton around the oval in 6th lace despite some shaky handoffs and both Javy and Persie finished in the Top 20 in the other sprinting events. Grimey led a strong contingent of 800 runners for the team as he won his section in a 1:56 and finished 7th overall, while Romey Sklar dipped under 2:00 to grab 17th and as they usually are - Nick Codola and Judd Liebman were separated in time by a couple of hundredths of a second, as they finished 23rd and 24th in 2:02. Brent Harrison stepped up to the 1500 but the bigger performance was the step down to the 400, with only the hurdles in between the two events, and ran a 51.92 just missing scoring in the event out of the slower section.

The men headed to Tufts to open up the outdoor portion of the track & field season. Fortunately the name of the meet - Snowflake Classic - did not have anything to do with the weather, and the 50 degree day and sunny conditions were most welcome, especially with the conditions as of late. There were well over 20 teams competing - a bit larger than the meet had been the previous year - and the men would ultimately finish 12th overall, though there was no concern about the scoring as we were most focused on competing and seeing where people were at. With a solid week of training and strength building under the belts, the legs were a bit tired but despite the early season fatigue, the guys did a great job of getting after it. The 5k was the big point getter as Charlie Reighard, Dillon Buckley, KC Fussell and Pat Grimes would finish 2,3,4 and 6 and post some great opening times with Charlie hitting a new PR in 15:08 and the others in 15:10,11 and 19. Josiah Terrell-Perica launched the javelin to a DIII NE mark and new PR of 51.90 meters while placing 5th, and then just missing the mark in the discus where he grabbed 10th. Denzel Duncan returned to track and wasted no time in picking up where he left off, as he grabbed 9th in the Hammer - hitting a DIII NE mark of 45.64m (149 feet), and then also got to a new PR in the discus as well, and had a 40 foot toss in the shot put to stay busy. In the triple jump, Steve Hetterich, Mark Cort and Khalil Fleming all had a good opening series of jumps with everyone well over 40 feet and Steve grabbing the final scoring spot in 8th place. Prior to the jumping, Khalil would first, prove to be the fastest Amherst sprinter on the team with his 11.63 and then would join with Percie Gijima, Ralph Washington and Javy Paulino to finish 9th in the 4x100 in a time of 44.84. Javy came back strong in the 200 to lead the team there with a 23.85. Mark set his new 400 PR by running 52.12 with classmate Nick Codola coming in just on his heels in 52.17, with Judd Liebman also dipping under 53 seconds. Romey Sklar would post the top time in the both the 1500 and the 800 for the team as he ran 4:08 to finish 16th, and then came back on short rest to grab 22nd in 2:02 in the 800.