The track & field team started its outdoor season on March 30 at the Tufts Univ. Snowflake Classic. Competing against 24 Division I, II and III teams, the Amherst men finished 12th, right in the middle of the pack, while the women took seventh.

Notable performances on the day included senior Keri Lambert in the 5,000 meters, where she won her event in dominating fashion, as she finished 47 seconds ahead of the second-place runner. In the same event on the men’s side, Charlie Reighard ’14 nearly took home a first place finish as he was a mere half a second behind the winner.

In the field events, first-year Taylor Summers had an impressive third-place finish in the long jump, posting 5.10m for the women. For the men, Josiah Terrell-Perica ’15 had a strong showing in both the discus and the javelin where he came in 10th and fifth, respectively.

This past Saturday, April 6, the Jeffs were back in action at the American International College Invitational in Springfield, Mass. The women finished eighth out of 16, while the men had a better day, finishing fifth out of 18.

Lambert had another superb day as she ran the 11th-fastest time for the 1,500 meters in all of Div. III this season, 4:39.44. Fellow senior captain, Lauren Almeida also ran an excellent race, finishing third with a time of 4:40.40. Sophomore Abbeh Anderson earned two more top-three finishes for the women as she came in third in the 100-meter dash with a time of 12.78 and second in the 200-meter with a time of 25.62.

Two Jeffs were able to pick up individual victories for the men. Matt Melton ’14 won the 400 meters with the eighth-fastest time in Div. III this far in the season. Andrew Erskine ’13 had the other win as he prevailed in the 10k.

Next up for track & field is the UMass Invitational on Saturday, April 13.