Men's Track Triumphs at Little 3 Meet
AMHERST, MA- The Ephmen headed to Amherst, Massachusetts today to compete for the Little Three title. The meet serves as both a long standing rivalry and a final tune up before the bigger championship meets in the weeks to come. The Ephs started the running events off with a solid performance in the 4 by 100 meter relay, which consisted of Sy Schotz, Deividas Seferis, Pierre-Alexandre Meloty-Kapella, and Andrew Arons. The group ran a fast strong time of 42.16, which is .16 off of a provisional qualifier for the national meet. The group ran well despite some handoff snafus from other teams. “There was so much action going on during my handoff”, says Seferis. “Amherst fell and rolled on his face, and Wesleyan threw his baton, which went flying by my head.” Needless to say, Amherst and Wesleyan were disqualified, and Williams took the race.
Senior Jared Oubre had a phenomenal race in the steeplechase. Jared crossed the line first with a blazing finishing kick and clocked a 20 second personal record of 9:30.54. Will Palmer also ran well in the steeplechase, coming in third with a time of 9:52.72. The next event on the track was the 1500 meter run. Edgar Kosgey, fresh off a blazing 800 meter run last week, took third in the race with a time of 4:03.29. Grant Burgess was right behind him to take fourth in 4:03.91.
Freshman Matt Sullivan won the 110 meter hurdles with a time of 15.79 seconds. Isaac Nicholson came across the line in 17.86 seconds to claim third. The 400 meter run was a particularly strong and exciting race for Williams. Deividas Seferis, Taylor Fitzgerald, and Alex Hoerman swept the race, taking first through third respectively with times of 48.81, 49.49, and 49.63. Andrew Arons and Deividas Seferis finished neck and neck in the 200 to take first and second, Arons barely edging out Seferis to claim victory with a time of 21.48. Pierre-Alexandre Meloty-Kapella rounded out the Williams domination of the sprint events, taking first in the 100 meter dash with a time of 11.32.
The 800 meter race was stacked with Williams harriers, as 7 out of the top 10 finishers donned purple and gold garb. Although the win went to an Amherst foe, Williams swept the remaining top spots, with junior John Chaffee coming in second with a time of 1:56.04 and senior co-captain Robert Brickley taking third. Freshman phenoms Mike Geary and Brian Cole took fourth and fifth.
The 400 meter hurdles was another strong event for the Ephs, who swept the top four spots. Junior Joseph Buck took the race, running a personal record of 54.95. Mathew Desire, Matt Sullivan (just backl from a stress fracture), and Jared Oubre rounded out the top 4 spots
The 80 degree heat made the 5000 meter run a trying endeavor. Despite the beating sun, sophomore Corey Watts ran the final 400 meters of the race in 63 seconds to come from behind a steal the victory with a time of 15:24
The final event of the day was the 4 by 400 meter relay. The top relay team was resting, but Williams still managed to field a winning squad that consisted of Dan Waters, Robert Brickley, Chris Beeler, and Edgar Kosgey. The team came through in 3:24.96, just edging out Amherst. “Basically,” said freshman Dan Waters, “Williams is good at running 4 by 4s”.
Track team newcomer Geoff McCrossen won the pole vault event with a vault of 3.62 meters, with Isaac Nicholson coming in second with a mark of 2.36. Freshman Matt Farley came into his own at Little Three’s, winning the hammer through with a toss of 47.30 meters.
Williams jumpers took places three through seven in the long jump. Isaac Nicholson had the best mark of the day for Williams, jumping 6.26 meters to get third. Steve Rubin, David Kessel, and Iheoma Ikenna placed fourth through seventh, respectively. Rob McDonald, Isaac Nicholson, and Galen Jackson placed second, third, and fourth in the high jump. McDonald posted a solid mark of 1.9 meters and hopes to keep improving. David Kessel placed second in the triple jump, leaping three consecutive times for a total distance of 13.59 meters.
Williams went one and two in the shot put, with Senior Andrew DeSalvo dominating the competition with a toss of 15.14 meters. Freshman Syvad Young had the second best mark of 13.29. DeSalvo came back to claim second in his javelin throwing debut with a throw of 45.72 meters. DeSalvo and Young again went one and two in the discus throw, with marks of 38.13 meters and 36.14 meters, respectively. “It’s always nice,” said DeSalvo “to come to Little Threes and do so well in the throwing events. The sun was shinning, and I was just feeling it today, you know?” But as a senior, it’s really all about the team, and I was just happy to score 19 points to help us out.”
When all was said and done, Williams came out on top with a team score of 182 points. Wesleyan was runner up with 117 points, and Amherst rounded it out with 82 points. This was the 20th consecutive Little Three title for the Ephmen.
