The Amherst men’s track and field team took a jaunt to nearby UMass Amherst to face off as the only Div.ision III team against a field of tough Division I competition. After travelling in a yellow school bus due to the meet’s proximity, the team fittingly schooled their competition as soon as they stepped onto the track, placing fifth overall.

The day opened with Amherst’s own Dan Crowley ’16 continuing his impressive winning streak with a quick 32:17.60 time in the 10K to earn the crown in the event. Meanwhile first-year Justin Barry placed fourth with a time of 32:59.48.

The speedy combination of Brent Harrison ’16 and Romey Sklar ’15 in the 800 meters humiliated their Division I adversaries with times of 1:55.65 and 1:56.30 to finish first and second.

Amherst’s sole steeplechase runner this meet, Jeff Seelaus ’16, raced his first steeple race this outdoor season coming in third with a time of 10:05.63.

Out of a notably deep 50-person field in the 1,500 meters, Kevin Connors ’17 placed fourth with a time of 4:01.3. Fellow sophomore Steven Lucey earned a 15th-place finish in the event.

Jamie Sandel ’17, the workhorse of the meet, ran the 110 hurdles and the 400 hurdles, as well as a leg of the 4x400-meter relay. He placed sixth in the 110 hurdles with a time of 16.23 and tenth in the 400 hurdles with a time of 58. 81. Fellow Amherst hurdler Nathan Showalter joined him in the 110 hurdles coming in 10th.

In the men’s triple jump, Khalil Flemming ’16 earned eighth place with a mark of 41’ 1.75”, while Stephen Hetterich ’15 came in 12th with a leap of 39’ 6.5”. The duo also took to the long jump, where Flemming and Hetterich placed 14th and 19th respectively.

In the 400-meter race, David Ingraham ’18 and Nick Codola ’15 both cracked the top 10, placing sixth and ninth.
“Coach Miller has definitely done a great job training the sprinters during the transition between the indoor and outdoor seasons, and I’m sure our performances will continue to reflect that as we enter the post-season,” Ingraham said.

“Our 4x400-meter relay also had a nice race, finishing very close behind some strong teams including Northeastern and UMass.”

The Amherst 4x400-meter relay consisting of Sandel, Codola, Brent Harrison ’16 and Ingraham sped into fifth place with a time of 3:26.96. The team’s 4x100-meter relay made up of Josh Young ’17, Codola, Flemming and Matthew Thomas ’16 placed seventh with a time of 44.77.

Ingraham additionally competed in the 200-meter dash where he placed 10th with a time of 23.15. Young also sported a 12th place finish in the 100-meter dash with a time of 11.50.

In the 5K, Craig Nelson ’18 placed third while KC Fussell came in 10th. The first-year duo of Scott Nelson and Peter Horton placed 12th and 13th respectively in the event.

“Overall, it was awesome to see a lot of our guys put up great performances while competing against some tough Division I competition,” Ingraham said.

Amherst will compete at the Wesleyan Invitational on Saturday, April 18.