The Dartmouth men's and women's track and field teams began their indoor season Sunday with promising performances at the 26th annual Dartmouth Relays.
Competing in the open division events against athletes from other colleges, including colleges from Canada and top club athletes, both Dartmouth teams placed numerous athletes in the top 10 in individual events.
Coach Sandra Ford-Centonze's women's team featured promising early season performances in the 5,000 and 400 meters. Kristin Cobb '95 finished third in the 5,000 meters with a time of 17:32.13.
Deirdre Milligan '98 and Kristin Pierce '96 finished close behind in fifth and sixth place, respectively. Their performances were made more impressive by the presence of club athletes Lynn Jennings and Lisa Senatore in the race. Jennings won the bronze medal in the 10,000 meters at the 1992 Olympics.
Cobb was pleased with her race. "It was a good race for the beginning of the season," she said.
Anne Jones '97 and Helene Sisti '96 placed fifth and sixth in the 400 meters. Centonze said she was also pleased with the performance of Kelley Moohr '98, who ran well in her first ever indoor 400.
The women also did well in the field events, led by strong performances from Kaia Greene '97 in the long and triple jump, and Amy Winchester '96 in the shot put. Greene placed second in the triple jump at 36 feet 2.25 inches and ninth in the long jump with 16-8.75.
Teammates Lauren Newton '96 and Pilar Rodriguez '97 finished fifth and sixth in the triple jump. Winchester finished second in the shot put to three-time Olympian Ramona Pagel, with a throw of 45-11.75.
Overall Ford-Centonze was happy with her team's performance. "From what they did today, I feel good for the future. Barring injuries we will be ready for the Heptagonal Championships at Cornell in February."
Men's Coach Barry Harwick was equally pleased with his team's performance. He stressed the importance of this meet to introduce freshmen to college level track and field, and to get a feeling for how the team will perform before beginning dual meet competition next Saturday in Leverone Field House. "Now we are looking forward to our dual meets coming up," he said.
The Big Green received strong track performances in the 800 meters and 400 meters events. Tim Farrell '96, Brian Barry '96, and Jim Tuxbury '97 finished second, third and fifth respectively in the 800 meters. Farrell's time was 1:56.5.
Agreeing with his coach, Farrell said, "It is a good beginning race just to see where you are because it is not a team meet."
In the 400 meters Wayne Burwell '97 placed third in a time of 50.45. Aaron Culliney '96 finished seventh.
The Big Green men performed well in the field events. Steve Clark '97 placed second in the high jump with a jump of 6-8 and Scott Shimooka '95 finished third in the pole vault at 14 feet.
In the weight events, Dave Erikson '96 led the Big Green with a third place finish in the shot put and an eighth place finish in the weight throw.
Alex Ghanotakis '97 finished ninth and sixth in the events.
The Dartmouth Relays are a three-day event bringing more than 3,000 competitors to Hanover to compete in a full slate of events and age group divisions.
Saturday's high-school competition featured some of the most talented runners in the country.
Matt Downin of the Pinkerton Academy in Derry, generally regarded as the best high school distance runner in the country, ran in the boy's cross country.
Friday featured the master's competitions that included Marlene Sachs, a national heptathalon champion and Harwick running the 3,000 meters.
"The theme of the event is to make it as inclusive as possible," Harwick said. "If we can provide a competitive, yet enjoyable experience for all the participants, as well as the spectators, then we'll go home happy on Sunday night."
Both the men's and women's teams are back in action next weekend. The women will travel to the Challenge Cup at Maine next Friday night, while the men will compete at Leverone Field House next Saturday at 1:00 p.m.
