Sheltered from the snowy landscape of Hanover, NH, Dartmouth's track and field teams competed this weekend in the Leverone Field House at the 36th Annual Dartmouth Relays. Every year, the meet draws athletes from dozens of colleges and universities around the northeast and is the athletes' first chance to see the results of their off-season's grueling training regimen.
The Dartmouth women left little to speculation as they dominated the field and took first overall in the team competition for the second year in a row. With a team total of 67 points, they easily outmatched competitors from Williams College and the University of Sherbrooke, both of which had totals of 53 points. The Dartmouth men placed third in the meet, amassing 47 points overall. The team from UMass-Lowell took first place with 82.5 points, followed by the University of Sherbrooke's total of 54.5.
On the way to the team title, there were several impressive performances by members of the women's team. Betsy Williamson '05 won the mile with a time of 5:12.9, followed by Lili Peacock-Villada '05 in second with a time of 5:17.72. Mattie Chatterton-Richmond '06 placed second in the heptathlon with a total of 3,360 points. The Big Green's distance medley team, composed of Williamson, Robin Bankert '08, Peacock-Villada and Kristen Ettensohn '05, won its event with a time of 12:38.95.
There were also some solid performances for the men's team, with several athletes placing in their events. Freshman Mike Carmody '08 won the mile with a time of 4:16.48, and Mustafa Abdur-Rahim '04 won the heptathlon with a point-total of 5,698. For the throwers, Matt Brown '05 placed fourth in the shot put with a toss of 15.38 meters, and Mike Mozer '05 was close behind, throwing the shot 14.56 meters.
The meet was also highlighted by the appearance of Olympian Dan O'Brien, who held a shot put and discus clinic in Leverone Field House on Saturday. O'Brien took gold in the decathlon at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, and he was a five-time United States National Decathlon Champion.
The Big Green track teams will take on the universities of Vermont and New Hampshire next weekend in Hanover and will host Yale and Columbia the following weekend, where more breath-taking track and field action can be expected.
