The Williams mens Track & Field team traveled to Boston on Friday to compete in the Reebok Collegiate Games. Facing mostly Division I competition, the Ephs placed 4th with a score of 70 points. The overall winner of the meet - The University of Rhode Island - tallied 132 points to win by a landslide over Northeastern University's 88 points. UMass-Amherst took third with a score of 80.
The Reebok meet is one of the Ephs' most highly anticipated competitions of the indoor season. Races take place at the legendary Reggie Lewis track facility, which features a speedy banked track. Unlike traditional track layouts, this oval curves up from lane one to compensate for the sharp turns of an indoor 200-meter track. The track construction, combined with the electricity in the air from the excited athletes, usually results in the first of the an athlete's fast times of the indoor season.
Running, jumping, and throwing in the charged atmosphere at top-class facilities helped the Eph's perform their best. In the shorter races between 200 meters and 800 meters, three Williams runners placed in the top-2 of their event. Andrew Arons '08 continued his hot streak - last week he set two field house records at home in the Williams Invitational - with a victory in the 200 meter dash. Freshman Taylor Fitzgerald stepped up and met the competition, running 50.06 in the 400 meter dash to place an impressive second and qualify for the Open New England Championships. In the longest of the sprints, Mack Chaffee took second in the 800 meter run in a time of 1:54.49.
The top finishes carried over in the field events. Sophomore John Dingee continued to jump well, leaping 13.39 meters to take fifth place in the triple jump, and senior Joe Song just missed qualifying for the Division III New England Championships with his long jump of 6.22 meters (8th place). Senior Andrew DeSalvo took sixth in the shot put with a throw of 14.47 meters.
Williams also did well in the distance races. These competitions require 8 to 25 laps around the track, and mental focus is almost as important as fitness in trying to stay on pace. In the 5000 meter run, Williams placed four runners in the top 10. Sophomore Corey Watts toughed out a third place finish in 15 minutes, 26.35 seconds, as seniors Morgan Seybert (15:29.82), Grant Burgess (15:36.72) and Jim Clayton (15:56.23) followed in places four, six and nine.
The different training squads of runners - the sprinters, middle-distance, and distance runners - came together for another second place finish for Williams in the Distance Medley Relay. Seniors Mack Brickley (racing 1200 meter leg) and Sy Schotz (400 meters), sophomore Edgar Kosgey (800 meters), and junior Mack Chaffee (1600 meters) handed off the baton to finish in a quick time of 10:25.25.
After training on their own during dead week, the Eph trackstars will be back in town and ready to travel to Dartmouth College for their next meet on February 2nd.
(photo courtesy of Diana Davis '06)
