The Ephs won the Division III New England Track & Field Championships today at Coast Guard Academy, easily dispatching second-place MIT by over 50 points, winning with a score of 151. The majority of Williams' points were spread out among the running events as many Ephs claimed top finishes in their respective events.
One of the top performers of the day was undoubtedly senior Jared Oubre, who won the 3000-meter Steeplechase in a time of 9:22.12. Oubre, who has played JV basketball for Williams in past years, opted instead to devote this year's winter to running. The transition has paid off for the dedicated senior. Over the course of the outdoor season, he has seen PRs in many events including the 1500-meter Run and the 3000-meter Steeplechase. Each time he races the event he improves dramatically, today leading fellow senior Grant Burgess (9:28.22) in a 1-2 Purple Cow finish.
The Ephs had other individual champions in the 1500-meter run and the 200-meter dash. In the 1500, junior Mack Chaffee blazed his way to gold in 3:52.78 seconds, while senior Andrew Arons took the "W" in the 200 with a time of 21.61. Junior Deividas Seferis joined Arons on the podium for another Williams 1-2 finish. Seferis crossed the line just .21 seconds behind Arons in time of 21.82. Arons (10.84) and Seferis (10.90) finished back-to-back again in the 100-meter dash, finishing third and fourth behind Salem State's Eddie Bynum III, who just edged them out with a time of 10.65 seconds.
The 400- and 800-meter events proved themselves another resource for Eph success. Alex Hoerman '09 and Taylor Fitzgerald '11 finished third and fourth, just .06 seconds apart, as Hoerman crossed the line in 49.95 seconds to Fitzgerald's 50.01. In the 800 meter run, Chaffee came back after the 1500 to take third in 1:54.40 seconds. He lead freshman Brian Cole, who placed fifth in 1:54.86, and sophomore Edgar Kosgey (8th, 1:55.20).
In the longest races of the day - the 5000- and 10,000-meter runs - the two Coreys came through with strong finishes. In the 10,000, which was held on Friday night, Corey Levin '08 finished second with a PR of 31:34.82, with fellow senior Jim Clayton coming into his own with a monster PR of 31:45.08. Corey Watts let it all hang out in the 5000 as he showed everyone what he's made of. He came in fifth place, nearly breaking the 15:00 barrier as he crossed in 15:05.39.
The rest of the team's points came from fine performances in everything from the Shot Put to the Hurdles events. Senior Andrew DeSalvo took second in the shot, throwing 14.92 meters, just missing matching the first place he earned at the DIII Indoor T&F Championships. The team's two top hurdlers came through in their events as junior Stew Buck led Matt Sullivan '11 in the 400-meter Hurdles. The two finished in second and fourth place, respectively, with Buck crossing the line in 55.48 seconds, and Sullivan in 55.91. In the triple jump, John Dingee '10 took seventh with 13.65 meters, and Issac Nicholson scored 5424 points in the decathlon to take fifth in the decathlon.
Next, the Ephs set their sights on the Division I New England Championships, before getting ready for ECACs and the NCAA Championships.
