The Amherst track teams began their season in earnest in the last couple weeks, with meets at Tufts, Wesleyan, and Boston University. The women’s team’s stellar performance at the Terrier Invitational in Boston was particularly impressive, as three different athletes set school records.
The Jeffs had one meet before Winter Break at Smith College on December 7th. The majority of the team’s cross-country runners did not compete, according to Coach Erik Nedeau, who said that the meet was “primarily for our jumpers and sprinters.”
Amherst took four of the top five places in the 600m, with senior Matt Melton pacing the field at 1:23.91. Khalil Flemming ’16 led the Jeff sprinters and jumpers. His time of 7.34 seconds was good for fifth in the 60m dash, and he earned third in the triple jump with 11.87 meter effort. Overall, Amherst collected 12 top-five finishes in 15 events.
The women’s indoor team also competed at Smith, and, like the men’s team, entered mostly sprinters and jumpers. The meet was highlighted by senior Naomi Bates, who won the long jump with a distance of 5.60m, breaking her own school record in the process. Sophomores Taylor Summers and Victoria Hensley had the most success for Amherst in the track events. Summers’ time of 8.14 seconds took fourth in the 60m, while Hensley finished the 400m also in fourth with a time of 1:02.13.
Amherst returned to action on January 18th at the Tufts Invitational.
“We have had a great but tiring intersession period of doing double practices nearly every day,” said Nedeau, “The focus for Tufts was simply to go out and be competitive and put aside the fatigue from our minds. Some of the highlights would include the 5k in which Amherst took four of the top five spots, and then a great triple jump by Khalil Flemming where he won the event with his final attempt.”
First-year Ben Fiedler won the 5k with a time of 15:37.51, while first-year Steve Lucey won the 800m in 1:58.95. The Jeffs’ 4x800 team collected the team’s final victory, as their time of 8:15.86 was good enough to beat Tufts by under a second. Other top-five finishes included second for Matt Melton in the 400m, fourth for junior Romey Sklar in the 1000m, fifth for junior KC Fussell in the 3000m, and fifth for junior Mark Cort in the long jump.
The Amherst women traveled to Wesleyan on the 18th, and their cross country runners returning to action helped them claim four individual first-place finishes.
Amherst won both the 60m dash and the 200m dash, with Taylor Summers’ time of 8.04 taking the 60, and Naomi Bates’ 26.26 good enough to win the 200. Karen Blake ’17 was just behind Bates with a time of 26.31, and Kiana Herold ’17 took second in the 60m hurdles in 10.33 seconds.
In the middle distance races, the Jeffs claimed a slew of second and third place finishes: Sarah Whelan ’17 (1:04.77) was second in the 400m, Keelin Moehl ’16 (1:42.27) and Victoria Hensley (1:43.67) took second and third in the 600m, Sarah Foster ’16 (2:30.87) finished third in the 800m, and Kelli Ellingson ’15 (3:14.31) grabbed second in the 1000m.
Amherst dominated the mile and the 3000m, winning both and taking seven of the first eight spots in the mile and three of the first four in the 3000. Amy Dao ’14 won the mile with a time of 5:18.14, and Lexi Sinclair ’16 finished first in the 3000m in 10:39.95. The long jump was again the highlight of the field events for the Jeffs, with Bates’s jump of 5.53m taking first, with Herold (4.84m) and Summers (4.79m) taking second and third.
On Saturday, the men’s and women’s teams both traveled to Boston University for the Terrier Classic, an event which featured athletes from Divisions I, II, and III.
Still, Amherst managed several impressive showings. For the women, Herold, Blake, and Bates all set school records in the high jump, 200m and 400m respectively. Herold’s jump of 1.65 meters, besides setting the record, was good for a seventh-place overall finish. In the 200m, Blake’s time of 25.45 seconds broke a record of 25.59 that Bates had set a couple heats earlier. Later, Bates ran a 58.61 in the 400m for another school-best mark.
On the men’s side, Melton finished 15th in the 400m, with a season-best time of 48.55, and Fussell (14:56.71) and Dan Crowley ’16 (15:05.31) took 20th and 30th respectively in the 5000m. In the field events, Flemming placed 13th in the triple jump with a season-best jump of 13.64 meters.
Both teams travel to Springfield College for a meet this Saturday.
