Men
The men’s indoor track and field team traveled to Cambridge, Mass. last weekend to compete in the USATF New England Championships, hosted at Harvard.
The Jeffs’ middle- and long-distance runners continued their strong indoor season, led by Matt Melton ’14, who took home gold in the 800.
With the pack still together entering the final straightway, Melton pulled away and outkicked the field, winning in a time of 1:52.26, just .4 seconds ahead of second-place finisher Mike DePaul.
Also standing out in the distance events were seniors Pat Grimes and Andrew Erskine, finishing fourth in the mile (4:13.18) and fifth in the 5000 (14:54.06), respectively. Sophomore Greg Turrisini led the way in the 3000, taking ninth in 8:21.31.
Percie Gijima ’14 led the way for the Jeffs sprinters, placing eighth in the 60m dash in a time of 7.32.
Triple jumper Steven Hetterich ’15 took sixth with a measure of 12.56 meters.
The Jeffs return to action Feb. 22-23 at the NEICAA Championships hosted by Boston Univ.
Women
Not to be outdone by their male counterparts, the women’s indoor track and field team took ninth out of 23 teams at Division III New England Championships hosted by the University of Southern Maine.
In what has been a brilliant indoor season, Naomi Bates ’14 continued her strong performance, finishing in the top-five of three different events, pacing the Lady Jeffs to their impressive result.
In the 55-meter dash, Bates took fourth (first among NESCAC competitors) with a time of 7.34 seconds.
Bates again found herself just off the podium in fourth place in her next event, the 200m dash, finishing in 25.96 and again first among NESCAC runners.
In her last event, Bates at last found the podium, finishing third in the long jump (5.52 meters).
The Lady Jeffs’ best result of the day, though, came from its Distance Medley Relay team, made up of first-year Betsy Black, sophomores Itai Brand-Thomas and Sarah Foster and senior Keri Lambert.
The unit finished in a time of 12:21.78, good enough for second place and just ahead of Bowdoin.
Lambert also led the Jeffs in the middle-distances events, placing ninth overall in the mile.
Her time of 4:59.51 was good enough for third place among NESCAC rivals, trailing Williams’ Brianne Mirecki (4:56.45) and Middlebury’s Addie Tousley, Lambert’s familiar foe on cross country courses this fall. Tousley, who finished in 4:54.15, won the event.
The following day, senior Sarah Daly competed in the USATF New England Indoor Championship at Harvard (the Lady Jeffs’ lone entrant in the meet) and took fourth in the 5000 (18:28.88).
In what was only her second competitive race of the year as a result of an injury during the cross country season, Daly still managed to qualify for the ECAC Championship next weekend.
The women’s indoor track and field team also returns to action next weekend at the NEICAA Championship, hosted by Boston Univ.
