The Dartmouth track team and the indoor track at Boston University have had a sort of love affair over the past few seasons. Not that the runners bend down and kiss the track after their victories, but each seems to be very well suited to the other. The BU track is a notoriously fast track, where Dartmouth runners every year pull off unbelievable times to make the IC4A and ECAC championships. This year at the Valentine Invitational was no exception.
"I was quite pleased with my performance this weekend, especially considering it was my last meet at the BU Armory," junior Tom McArdle said.
The track proved to be a lover for many of his teammates as well. Dartmouth had eight members of the team qualify for the IC4A championships over the weekend in addition to McArdle's performance. McArdle posted a time that is the fastest in the Heps this season and is good enough to be an NCAA qualifier. He moved to fourth on Dartmouth's all-time list following the run.
"It felt great to qualify for the IC4A's, since it is probably the most important meet of the year for me and for the team," McArdle said. "We always send about ten kids to it, and this year should be no exception."
The rest of the team was stellar as well. Colin Ingram '04 qualified in the 1000, while Bryce LaPierre '00 and Marc Nichol '04 qualified in the 3000. Jeff Guenette '03 finished the 500 with a time good enough to qualify and Jason Taylor '02 managed to qualify in the mile with a solid time of 4:12.75. Rounding out the men's qualifiers was Tyler Haney '04 in the 400 and Neal Graves '05 and Kevin Arnold '05 in the 5000.
The men's 1600-meter relay team made a statement as they won their section of the relay. Guenette, Haney, Taylor Smith '02 and Ahmad Abdur-Rahim '04 posted an excellent time of 3:15.97 that was the best in the Heps this year.
The Dartmouth women also had a good showing, although they did not send quite as many individual runners to the ECAC championships. Lara Niell '02 won the 3000 meter race in a time of 9:48.62, followed closely by Kristen Ettensohn '05 in second with a 9:54.60, which was good enough to get both of them into the ECAC's. Dagny Dingman '02 also qualified in the 5000.
"It is great to qualify for ECACs. For most of the team it is a goal we all work towards, so it is nice to have accomplished that," Niell said.
The women's relays, however, proved that they were the best in the field with a victory in the 4x400-meter relay and second place in the long distance relays. Shaina Damm '02, Leslie Feingerts '04, Beth Smith '05 and Caitlin Sherry '05 had a time of 3:55.93 in the 4x400 which will send them to the ECAC championships. Jessie Allen-Young '03, Laura Berzak '04, Megan Newton '04 and Kersti Miller '02 had an ECAC-qualifying time in the long distance relay.
Unfortunately for them, they will not have the advantage of the hallowed BU track for the upcoming championship, but it shouldn't matter.
"Heps is the most important meet we compete in and everything is coming together perfectly for an impressive finish," Ingram said.
