The Amherst men’s indoor track and field team opened the 2015-2016 season at the Smith Invitational, hosted by Smith College.
The team’s competitors in the field events displayed outstanding potential for the remainder of the season. In the high jump, Jay Drain ’18 recorded a 13th-place finish (1.63 meters), Nathan Showalter ’17 finished 16th overall (1.63 meters) and Harrison Haigood ’18 placed 18th (1.58 meters).
Khalil Flemming ’16 started the season strong with two top-15 performances: 15th in the long jump with a mark of 5.90 meters and eighth in the triple jump with a mark of 12.26 meters.
Even with fewer runners than usual, with many of the distance runners not competing in the meet, the team’s track competitors still proved succesful.
In the 800-meter run, Jesse Fajnzylber ’17 and Ermias Kebede ’19 rounded off the top five overall with times of 2:02.15 and 2:04.07, respectively.
Moreover, Chris Butko ’18 won the event with an incredible time of 1:56.98, a mark that bodes well for the remainder of the indoor season.
Jeff Ewing ’18 finished the 600-meter run with a time of 1:30.92 to place 10th overall.
Amherst had solid performances in the 200-meter dash with Mohamed Ramy ’18 (25.10) and Josh Young ’17 (23.95) placing second in their respective section races. Haigood transferred his success from the jumping pit to the track by winning his section of the 200-meter dash (23.50) and finishing eighth in the 400-meter dash with a time of 54.16.
“We have one under our belt, and we know where to go from here,” Ramy said. “The team is more motivated and cohesive this year, so we expect great results.”
The purple and white are now off for winter break and will return to action on Saturday, Jan. 16 when they compete in the Little Three championships.
Last year, Amherst placed second at the Little Three championship meet, finishing 40 points behind Williams. The team looks to improve upon their strong performance at last year’s meet in which they claimed first in six events.
This year’s meet will be hosted by Wesleyan.
