Men's Track gets ready for DIII Championships at Tufts Stampede
Today was the last chance for many Williams Track & Field athletes to try to qualify for the Division III New England (DIIINE) Championships. Any runner, jumper or thrower who failed today to meet the qualifying standards (unless he previously met the marks earlier in the season), is done for the indoor season. That’s a fair amount of pressure. Luckily, Williams students are used to pressure, and based on the performances at the Tufts Stampede invitational, nothing fazed the Ephs as they achieved qualifying marks left and right.
The event in which the most success was achieved was the 1000 meter run – a kind of hybrid event requiring the speed of the more-traditional 800 meter run with a little of the endurance required to run a mile. Leading the Williams pack was sophomore Edgar Kosgey, who took second place in 2:30.22 - one of the top all-time marks for Williams. With his finish, he earned his way not only into the DIIINE championships, but also the ECAC and Division I championship meets. Within the next six seconds finished three more Ephs: senior Mack Brickley (2:32.10) and freshman Mike Geary (2:35.51) both qualified for the DIIINE and ECAC championships, and junior Brooks Udelsman met the DIIINE standard with his finish in 2:36.44.
In the 400 meter race – a quick two lap sprint – Williams placed three finishers in the top eight, with senior Deividas Seferis claiming third place in 51.21 seconds. One after another, in the seventh and eighth places, came sophomore Sy Schotz (51.85) and Matt Sullivan (51.90). Despite the top finishes, only Seferis met the DIIINE qualifying standard, though Schotz and Sullivan came close. Williams also had two top finishes in the 600 meter run - just one lap longer than the 400. Senior Chris Beeler took the “W” in a time of 1:23.41, as teammate Taylor Fitzgerald ’11 finished within a second in 1:24.19. Both individuals qualified for DIIINE.
Sprint powerhouse Andrew Arons ’08 again beat out the competition in the 200 meter dash. His time of 22.05 seconds was just off his Division III regional-leading mark, and easily met the qualifications for the DIIINE, ECAC, and Division I championships. He doubled back in the 55 meter dash for fifth place, sprinting across the line in 6.56 seconds.
After patiently working his way back from injury this fall, sophomore Jeff Perlis qualified with five seconds to spare in the 3000 meter run. After finishing second in the mile at the Dartmouth Indoor Classic – and failing to qualify for DIIINE - Perlis took the next weekend off to sharpen up for one last shot at qualifying. His patience paid off as he came through in the line in 8:55.59, good for sixth place. Teammate Tim Durham bettered his previous best mark of the season and finished in 9:00.29. Senior Corey Levin, after taking some time off to recovery some nagging injuries, made a solid comeback in the 5000 meter run, taking second place overall and qualifying for DIIINE in 15:37.21.
Although the field event competitors had no new DIIINE qualifiers today, there were many solid finishes. In the long jump, seniors David Kessel and Matt Desir finished back-to-back in places nine and ten. Kessel jumped 19-03.25 feet, and Desir went 18-11.25. The men’s shot put featured a similar back-to-back finish, as freshman Syvad Young and junior Nate Newburg placed tenth and eleventh with throws of 41-01.75 feet and 40-02.00 feet, respectively.
This week should be one of more relaxed training as the team gears up for one of its most important meets of the season next week: the Division III New England Championship.
