The Dartmouth men's and women's track and field teams both performed well this weekend, advancing to the finals of the third annual New England Challenge Cup next weekend.
Running at the University of Maine Friday night, the women placed second in their qualifying meet behind the University of Massachusetts, qualifying them for the women's finals this Saturday at 3 p.m. in Leverone Field House.
Maribel Sanchez '96 led a number of strong performances by winning the 3,000 meters in a personal best of 9:43.1 minutes, qualifying her for the ECAC championships.
She said that she was "very happy" with her race, especially since it was the first race she had run for Dartmouth after several terms off.
Other individual event winners were Sarah Howlett '98 in the 1,000 yards, Amy Winchester '96 in the shot put, and the 1,600 meter relay team of Anne Jones '97, Melissa Lodoen '98, Kelley Moohr '98, and Helene Sisti '96.
Coach Sandra Ford-Centonze was pleased with the team's performance, stressing that the team's goal was to qualify for the final round. She pulled her athletes from the final two relays once the second place and final qualifying spot were secured.
On Saturday in Leverone the men easily outscored a field of four other schools to win the qualifying meet with 131.25 points, topping second place Boston College's 73.25.
The Big Green did especially well in the 3,000 meters, taking five of the six scoring places, led by junior Chris Langan's first place time of 8:25.63.
They also ran well in the 500 meters, with Aaron Culliney '96 finishing first in 1:05.70 and Brian Barry '96 placing third.
The field events also saw some impressive performances. Scott Shimooka '95 and Dan Neiderjohn '97 took first and second in the pole vault, as Shimooka vaulted an impressive 15 feet.
Sam Wilbur '94 turned in probably the most dominating individual performances of Saturday's. Running the 1,000 meters as a speed workout to prepare for future races in the mile and 3,000 meters, Wilbur started fast and pulled away to win in a blistering early season time of 2:25.39, breaking his personal meet goal of 2:27.
Upon seeing his time on the digital clock beside the finish line, Wilbur raised his arms in exultation.
"I was really thrilled to break 2:27," he said after the race.
The men race next at the Challenge Cup final Friday at Boston University.
