Thanks to senior Matt Melton’s third place finish in the 400-meters, the Amherst men’s track team took 27th in the field of 37 teams that competed in the NEICAAA Championships. The meet, also known as the All New Englands, included athletes from Div. I, II and III, but Melton’s time of 47.91 seconds was good enough to beat everyone but Rhode Island sophomore Kebba Nasso and Southern Connecticut State senior Logan Sharpe. The time was also the fastest in Div. III this year.

“Matt was awesome in the 400m,” Head Coach Erik Nedeau said. “[He] got under 48 seconds for the first time to go along with placing third.”

No other Jeffs finished high enough to earn points, although sophomores Dan Crowley (8:35.79) and Jeff Seelaus (8:40.99) turned in notable performances in the 3000-meters, finishing 12th and 20th. Junior Romey Sklar was 15th in the mile with a time of 4:15.69, and the distance medley team of Lucas Lebovitz ’15, Jamie Sandel ’17, Jesse Fajnzylber ’17 and Kevin Connors ’17 took 13th in 10:20.03. Finally, junior Nick Codola ran a 1:56.66 in the 800-meters, which was good for 27th in the prelims.

“Nick had a big PR in the 800 and the guys running the DMR were all awesome,” Nedeau said.

The Jeffs’ schedule includes two meets this week: the Tufts Last Chance on Thursday and the ECAC Championships on Friday and Saturday. According to Nedeau, a distance medley team will try to qualify for the NCAA Div. III Championships (March 14-15) at the Last Chance meet, while the rest of the athletes will focus on the ECAC Championships.

None of the Amherst women finished high enough to win points, but Naomi Bates ’14 (25.10) and Karen Blake ’17 (25.35) impressed in the 200-meters. Bates’ time was the eighth fastest in Div. III this year, and put her in 10th place after the preliminaries, two spots outside of qualifying for the finals. In the 800-meters, Hannah Herrera ’17 took 14th, finishing in 2:18.59, while senior Amy Dao ran the mile in 5:05.32, finishing 18th. Junior Kelli Ellingson ran a 3:03.99 in the 1000-meter prelims, which was good for 20th.
The women will also compete in the ECAC Championships this Friday and Saturday, March 7 and 8.