WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass.-- The Williams College Men's Track & Field team authored the first chapter on what promises to be an exciting and fruitful season this Saturday on their home track. Say what you will about the meet (difficult track to run fast on, smaller field, some top athletes not competing, etc.), the 2010 Williams Invitational was a fun kickoff to the season and included several very strong performances.
The Tomas Kearney '12 performance in the triple jump was perhaps the strongest. His leap of 13.93m was easily the best in the field and also earned him an Open New England qualifier. The Open NE qualifier is dificult to achieve at any point in the season; to do so this early in the season signifies a remarkable effort. In upcoming meets Kearney can focus on the NCAA provisional mark of 14.06m. Teammate and junior Isaac Nicholson grabbed a first place of his own in the high jump with a 6.65m leap, also a D-III New Englands qualifying mark.
As was mentioned in the season preview, Coach Brooks was especially hopeful and excited about this year's throwing unit. On Saturday, they did not disappoint. Most notably, Williams took 1st through 3rd (as well as 5th) in the Weight Throw. Leading the way was Rusty Cowher '12, whose 14.79m heave was good for a D-III New Englands qualifier and also bested teammates Matt Farley '11 (13.78m) and Stephen Simalchik '13 (13.19m). Elsewhere in field events, Johnny Ray Hinojosa '13, the Ephs only pole vaulter in the past couple seasons, was victorious in his speciality, vaulting to a height of 4.12m and a D-III qualifying mark.
In the past few seasons, sprints have been the Ephs meal ticket. This season the Ephs' sprint squad should continue to be dominating. The results from Saturday may not be overwhelming, but keep in mind the speed of the unbanked track, the fact that many sprinters were racing for the first time, and that many Ephs were racing off-distance. As an example, Taylor Fitzgerald '11 usually shines in the 200m and 400m races; today he ran the 55m dash and turned in a respectable time of 6.81 seconds. Freshman Jabulani "Jabs" Blyden looked strong in the 300m, taking second in a time of 36.96 sec.
Many of the teams top distance runners were withheld from competition, but the Ephs still managed to win both the 1 mile and 3000m races. Much of the pre-meet hype surrounded perennial All-American Peter Kosgei of Hamilton and his very fast seed time of 4:09 in the mile. But Kosgei did not race on this day. Instead, freshman Brandon Abasolo took first, besting Tyler Gantz of the College of St. Rose by just over a second in 4:34.73. Fellow freshman Scott Rodilitz won convincingly in the 3000 in 9:14.85.
If Saturday's performances do not have you on the edge of your seat, stay tuned as the Ephs travel first to Wheaton (Mass.) and then to Northeastern in the next two weeks. Fast times, lenghty jumps, and strong throws promise to abound.
