This weekend, the three members of the women’s track team traveled to Portland Maine, to compete in the Maine State Open at The University of Southern Maine.

The event pitted a combination of NESCAC schools, public universities in Maine, and several other northeastern schools.

Amherst’s runners traveled in an attempt to qualify for Indoor Nationals later in the season, as they felt, given another opportunity, they could qualify.

Two Mammoths competed in the 800-meter run. Seniors Danielle Griffin and Leonie Rauls finished half a second apart, mimicking the rapport the two mid-distance runners had developed over the course of their time running together.

Griffin finished with time of 2:15:40, while Rauls finished a hair later with a time of 2:15:91.

The two runners took first and second place respectively. Their closest competition crossed the finish line more than six seconds later. The two runners qualified for Indoor Nationals with their excellent times.

Rauls will be seeded sixteenth, while Griffin will enter competition seeded twelfth. Rauls’ performance was just fast enough -- she qualified by only a single tenth of a second.

Also competing for the Mammoths, first-year Samantha Gayer placed in the one-mile run.

Gayer finished first in the race of six runners, beating out opponents from Bates and the University of Maine.

Despite finishing first, Gayer was unable to qualify for Indoor Nationals, her time of 5:20 several seconds off a qualifying spot.

The Mammoths look forward to their next completion, the Last Chance Qualifier, at Tufts University on March 2nd.

The event, as the name suggests, will be the final opportunity for Amherst to qualify runners for Indoor Nationals later that month.