The men scored 177.5 points to UNH's 144.5 and Vermont's 25, while the women totaled 145.5 to edge out New Hampshire's 124.5 and Vermont's 79. Both teams have traditionally had close meets with UNH, with the final relay serving as the deciding factor. This year, however, the men and women performed well enough to ensure victory before the final event.
"[This meet has] always been very competitive. A lot of times it does come down to the relay," women's head coach Sandra Ford-Centonze said. "This year, the guys stepped it up and took charge. On the women's side, it wasn't a situation where we could sit back and not compete, [but] fortunately our girls stepped it up."
Scoring for the men was highlighted by strong performances from Ikechi Ogbonna '06 in the 60 meter dash and the 60 meter hurdles, taking first in both events with times of 6.98 seconds and 8.17 seconds, respectively. Rob Kerris '07 won the shot put and weight throw with tosses of 51-1 1/2 and 50-6 3/4, and Alec Wall '07 took the 3000 meters, winning with a time of 8:22.64.
"Wall dominated the field in the 3000 and [Ogbonna] in the 60 and hurdles," men's distance coach Barry Harwick '77 said. "It's tough, doing [the short sprints] back to back, but he [still] won both."
On the women's side, Lydia Blandy '06 won the 800 meters in 2:16.97, and Susan Abramczyk '06 took the 3000 with a time of 10:55.65.
The meet went well for both Green teams, in terms of team and individual results, as everybody showed improvement over last week's meet.
"Everybody dropped their time from [the Dartmouth Relays] last week, and that's what I asked them to do," said Ford-Centonze. If we keep doing that, by the time we get to [the Heptagonal Championship], the times will be where we need them to be."
Other winners for the Lady Green include pole-vaulters Natalie Todd-Zebell '09 and Erika Graham '08, who tied for first by clearing 10-6 1/4. Seniors Kelsey Wiegmann and Mattie Chatterton-Richmond took the high jump and long jump, respectively, while Cassandre Tanner '08 went 36-7 to take the triple jump.
Jamila Smith '06 threw 44-5 1/4 en route to first place in the shot put, and Robin Bankert '08 won the 400 in 1:01.82.
On the men's side, Steve Mucchetti '06 grabbed the mile in 4:14.98, and Ricky Cedrone '07 took the 500 in 1:06.31. Adam Levy '07 won the 800 in 1:58.97; Bart van Veghel '06 won the 1000 in 2:32.46; Derrick Vinklarek '08 cleared 14-6 1/4 in the pole vault, and Sean Nelson '09 jumped 42-1 1/2 to win the triple jump.
The team also made progress toward its less tangible season goals, and displayed more enthusiasm and support for one another.
"Our goals were to win the meet, and I also wanted to see enthusiasm and support," said Harwick. "And we absolutely [reached our goals]."
The teams will return to action next Saturday, beginning inter-Ivy competition as Columbia and Yale come to Hanover.
Columbia looks as though its team might be less imposing than in past years, but Yale promises to be a compelling match-up.
"We've had a lot of battles with Yale," said Harwick. " I'm expecting a very close competition."
Ford-Centonze also expressed excitement for the coming meet.
"It has almost always gone down to the very end, the last relay," said Ford-Centonze, "The last couple of years on the women's side, the margin was less than 10 points.
"It'll be an intense meet, the level of intensity will be higher. [The team] always seems to rev up when another Ivy comes to town."
