Men

Amherst men’s track turned in a solid all-around performance this Saturday at the Tufts Invitational, led by several impressive middle and long distance times.

The Jeffs took three of the top six spots in the 5000-meters, with KC Fussell ’15 coming in second at 15:08.78, and fifth and sixth place finishers Ben Fiedler ’17 (15:24.00) and Raymond Meijer ’17 (15:25.72) breaking the line within seconds of each other.
“We try to vary things from week to week in an effort to stay fresh but also work on speed or strength depending on the distance we will race,” head coach Eric Nedeau said.

Greg Turissini ’15 was Amherst’s only top-10 runner in the 1000-meters, as his time of 2:33.47 put him in fourth. Juniors Romey Sklar and Nick Codola paced the Jeffs in the 800-meters, with Sklar coming in fifth at 1:57.82 and Codola seventh at 1:59.08, respectively. Two Jeffs were in the top-10 in the 600-meters, as Matt Melton ’14 (1:22.74) was only slower than Coast Guard’s Jordan Lee. Alex Durkee ’15 finished ninth in 1:24.66. Finally, Brent Harrison ’16 managed an eighth-place finish in the 400-meter dash, finishing in 51.68.

In the field events, junior Mark Cort leaped 6.49 meters to place third in the long jump, while Kahlil Flemming ’16 (13.51m) and Steven Hetterich ’15 (13.10m) took fourth and sixth in the triple jump, respectively.

Women

The Amherst women, who also competed at Tufts, collected a number of top-10 finishes in the longer events and added a pair of second places in the high jump and the 60-meter dash. Senior Naomi Bates was the runner-up in the 60-meters, sprinting to a time of 7.85 seconds, while Kiana Herold’s ’17 1.62 meter high jump was also good for second. Sophomore Taylor Summers managed to crack the top-10 in the high jump, as her 4.98 meter effort landed her in seventh.

Sarah Whelan ’17 finished the 400-meters in 1:04.06, which placed her 10th. Sophomores Keelin Moehl (1:41.31) and Victoria Hensley (1:42.17) took fifth and sixth in the 600-meters, while junior Olivia Tarantino was the only Jeff in the top-10 of the 800-meters. Her time of 2:24.46 put her in seventh.

Sophomore Sarah Foster and senior Amy Dao led the Jeffs in the 1000-meters and mile respectively. Foster’s time of 3:08.08 was good for fifth, while Dao captured fourth in the mile, clocking in at 5:09.83.

Amherst managed to take three top-10 places in the 3000-meters; Lizzy Briskin ’15, (10:22.82) Jessica Kaliski ’15 (10:44.73) and Cat Lowdon ’17 (11:00.84) placed second, sixth and 10th, respectively. In the 5000-meters, senior Lisa Walker claimed fifth with a time of 18:45.81, and sophomore Betsy Black was 10th at 19:14.23.

Both teams return to action this Saturday, at the New England Div. III Championships, hosted by Springfield College.