Senior Kristin Cobb's gallant four-lap chase of a University of Massachusetts runner came up two seconds short, and Dartmouth finished second by one point in the Tri-State Challenge, held Saturday at Leverone Field House.
The final score was the Massachusetts 50, Dartmouth 49, University of Vermont 43 and University of New Hampshire 10.
Cobb, anchoring the 4 x 800 meter relay team, received the baton 20 meters behind the UMass anchor and steadily closed the gap before running out of time.
The final event highlighted a competitive and spirited meet. The Dartmouth athletes seemed pleased with their performance, despite coming up a point short on the score sheet.
Assistant Coach Ellen O'Neil said she was happy with the day's performances, pointing out that the UMass is a strong team who easily out-scored Dartmouth in a meet earlier this season.
Collegiate track and field is a strange combination of individual performances and the team concept. Events go on simultaneously as competitors battle each other, while accruing points for the team. Coaches balance early season training, weekend team meets and individual qualifying times for late season championships.
With all permutations considered, and 13 events completed, the Tri-State Challenge came down to the final event, the 3200 meter relay with Dartmouth leading by one point. The UMass victory earned five points to Dartmouth's three, propelling UMass to victory.
In accruing Dartmouth's 49 points, several athletes turned in strong performances. Cobb, whose anchor leg provided suspense and excitement, also ran well in the mile, pulling away from the field to win in a time of 4:57.74.
Karen Rieper '95 won two events, finished second in a third and anchored the 4 x 400 meter relay to a third place finish. Rieper won the long jump with a leap of 17'3/4" and the high jump at 5'4". She finished second in the 55 meter hurdles with a time of 8.44 seconds.
Amy Winchester '96 continued her strong season by winning the shot put with a put of 44' 6 1/2".
On Friday night, Cobb and Maribel Sanchez '96 competed in the 3,000 meters at the Terrier Classic in Boston. Both ran below the NCAA Championship provisional qualifying time of 9:45. Sanchez lowered her personal best to 9:39, which should improve her national ranking according to Coach Sandra Ford-Centonze.
The men's team also ran at the Terrier Classic. Coach Barry Harwick was pleased with a number of strong performances, led by Ted FitzPatrick '95 in the 5,000 meters.
FittzParick's time of 14:07.13 was ten seconds below the NCAA Championship provisional qualifying standard and though he did not go under the guaranteed qualifying standard of 14 minutes flat, Harwick said he is confident that the time will survive the season.
In the 800 meters Aaron Culliney '96 and Tim Farrell '96 both qualified for the IC4A Championships with times of 152.50 and 152.58, respectively.
Harwick said he was happy with the team's performance in the Terrier Classic which allows Dartmouth athletes to compete with track powers from the East coast.
