Ephs place second at UMass Invitational

The town of Amherst has long been known as the hometown of Williams’ fierce rival, Amherst College, but today the Ephs headed there on a different mission than the usual domination of the Lord Jeffs. Williams was set to compete at UMass-Amherst’s UMass Invitational, a large track meet with many teams in attendance. The Ephs’s strong effort earned them 99 points and second place behind the University of Albany (236 points), and – as an added bonus – victory over Amherst College.

Williams’ field event competitors contributed strongly today to the Eph’s second-place finish. In the triple jump, three Williams jumpers placed in the top ten. Sophomore John Dingee, who has by now established himself as one of the Eph’s strongest triplers, came in second with a jump of 43-10.00 feet. Senior David Kessel and freshman Steve Rubin placed sixth and seventh, jumping 40-10.25 and 40-07.00 feet, respectively. In the throws, senior Andrew DeSalvo threw 48-00.75 feet in the shot, as freshman Syvad Young came in seventh with a toss of 41-10.75 feet. Young placed one better in the discus, throwing 121 feet even to garner sixth place. In the hammer throw and javelin – both events not contested during the indoor season - Matt Farley ’11 threw 144-05 in the hammer for fifth place, while Dingee came back from the jumps to place eighth in the javelin as he threw 142-07 feet.

The senior duo of Andrew Arons and Deividas Seferis put forth a strong showing in the sprints today. Arons doubled up in the 100- and 200-meter dashes, while Seferis’ only open event was the 200. Arons placed second in the 200 with a time of 21.70 seconds, while Seferis followed him just .14 seconds back for third. In the 100, Arons ran 10.97 seconds for third place.

The middle-distance squad had a standout day, led by sophomore Edgar Kosgey in the 800-meter run. Kosgey placed second in the half-mile race, running one of the team’s fastest times this year: 1:52.85 seconds. In the 1500-meter run, senior Mack Brickley led all Eph competitors with a seventh place finish. Brickley continued his breakout season, running 4:00.8 minutes. Less than five seconds later, two more Ephs crossed the line. Senior Jared Oubre who, like Brickley, is having the season of his life, came through in twelfth place (4:03.80 seconds), and freshman Brian Cole - in just his second race back from injury - finished in 4:04.31 (14^th place).

Like the middle-distance group, the distance runners had a good day. In the 5000-meter run, four Williams competitors placed in the top ten. They were led by senior Corey Levin, who crossed the tape in 15:09.78 minutes. Fellow seniors Morgan Seybert and Jim Clayton weren’t far back. Seybert placed seventh in 15:24.57, as Clayton was eighth in 15:33.78. Rounding out the top ten was sophomore Jeff Perlis, who just ducked under the 16:00-minute barrier with a time of 15:55.38.

The Eph’s hurdlers rounded out the team’s performance at the meet. In the 400-meter hurdles, senior Stew Buck placed second in 55.66 seconds, as fellow senior Matt Desir came through in fourth place, less than half a second back in 56.91. Senior Grant Burgess raced over hurdles of a different ilk. He scored Williams’ only individual men’s victory – in the steeplechase. He beat out all other competitors, finishing the 3000-meter race in 9:46.03 minutes.

Next week, the Purple Cows travel back to Amherst to compete head-to-head against the Lord Jeffs and against Wesleyan at the Little Three Championships.

Complete Results