Williams' Men 3rd at UMass-Amherst
Anthony Raduazzo '12
Amherst, MA-- Against Division I caliber competition, the Eph men track & field team snagged a third place finish at the UMass-Amherst Invite. Two men, Macklin Chaffee '09 and Brendan Christian '09, claimed NCAA provisional times in the 5000m race. Many other athletes prolonged their season by earning qualifiers for future meets. Weather once again played a factor, although it was not nearly as detrimental as at last week's Springfield Invite.
The words of Coach Fletcher Brooks provide a good overview of the meet: "The entire coaching staff came away from the meet feeling good about the competitive response the team made against strong opponents, particularly on a day not conducive to special performances. Our distance runners dominated, the sprinters came through in solid fashion and the throwers and jumpers held their own. They're getting ready!"
The host, UMass-Amherst of Division I, won the meet with 186 points. Central Connecticut St. was 2nd with 113 points followed closely by Williams with 107 points. NESCAC rivals Trinity and Amherst finished 6th and 9th with 62 and 35 points, respectively.
400 meters would be the magical distance for the Ephs on this day. Viktor Nagy '12 and Taylor Fitzgerald '11 started the scoring by finishing 1-2 in the 400 with times of 49.20 and 49.58, respectively. Both times were PR's for the outdoor season. Then, in the 400m hurdles, Stew Buck claimed a 1st of his own, running 56.00. Buck's qualifying time set's up his season nicely as he has now qualified for D-III New Englands, All-New Englands and ECAC's. Fitzgerald would also double back to finish 6th in the 200m.
The Ephs got a nice scoring boost from the field events, led by sophomore Matt Farley. Farley, a hammer throw specialist, took second among between D-I competition with his throw of 44.62m. Not a personal best for Farley, but a quality throw considering the unfavorable conditions. On those conditions, Isaac Nicholson '11 offered, "I think its great to see people on the team performing so well even in really poor conditions. I think it says a lot about our ability to compete, no-matter the circumstances, and it's hopefully an indication of even greater achievements to come once the weather gets nicer." Nicholson himself responded, finishing third in the long jump by leaping 6.52m. Also scoring in the jumping events were Steve Rubin '11 and Tomas Kearney '12, who finished 5th and 7th in the triple jump, respectively. Rusty Cowher '12 also earned a 3rd place finish with his shot put of 12.75m.
Brian Cole, who called the weather conditions "crazy", ran two solid performances in the 800m and 1500m. Cole was 4th in the 800, running 1:56.6, and 3rd in the 1500 with a time of 3:58.52. Both marks are season bests for Cole. Perhaps the most exciting race of the day for Williams College was the 5000m race. Williams had their 2nd, 3rd, and 4th team finishers from the National Cross-Country meet in Jeff Perlis '10, Macklin Chaffee '09, and Brendan Christian '09. The three harriers stayed in the lead pack throughout the race before Murner of Amherst took off to win the race. Chaffee ended up finishing 2nd, Christian 3rd, and Perlis 5th, with Chaffee and Christian scoring NCAA provisional times.
Next week, the Ephs head back to the Amherst area to compete in the Little Three Championships. With a winning streak spanning a couple decades, the Ephs will look to add another year to their tally.
