Saturday was a great day for clearing the bar. Dartmouth senior pole vaulter Scott Schimooka continued his strong season and broke his personal record. Schimooka broke the 16 foot barrier two weeks ago, and added two more inches this weekend, clearing 16'2".
In the high jump Steve Clark '97 won with a jump of 6'10", tying his personal best. Clark failed on three valiant attempts to clear seven feet.
Overall Dartmouth competed well, winning 10 of the 17 events but finishing second to the Big East's Connecticut, while handily defeating the Vermont in Leverone Field House. The final tally was Connecticut 96, Dart- mouth 73 and Vermont 10.
Much of Dartmouth's scoring came from the middle and long distance runners. Individual Big Green athletes won the 500, 800, 1000 and 3,000 meter events and then joined together to win both relays with stirring efforts.
In the 500 meters, Aaron Culliney '96 stretched his lead over the last lap before cruising to the finish line with a winning time of 1:06.37. Teammate Virgil Heathcock '97 ran strong, holding off a late challenge to finish second, less than two-tenths of a second ahead of the third place runner.
Tim Farrell '96 won the 1000 meters in 2:30.92 with teammate Jim Tuxbury '97 finishing second, less than a second behind.
Brian Barry '96 won the 800 meters with a gritty four-lap effort, leading from the gun to finish in a time of 1:56.01.
Distance runners Aaron Schumacher '98 and Bryson Coles '95 sandwiched two University of Connecticut runners in the 3,000 meters, placing first and fourth respectively with times of 8:42.60 and 8:45.55.
The weight events were also strong for the Big Green. In the weight throw Alex Ghanotakis '97 and Dave Ericson '96 continued their strong seasons, finishing first and second. In the shot put Adam Nelson '97, the World Junior Champion, returned from a knee injury sustained during the football season to win the shot put with a put of 54'4". Coach Barry Harwick said he was pleased with Nelson's season debut, and looked for him to improve throughout the season and to return to championship form by the end of the season.
Friday night a Big Green 4 x 800 team comprised of Wayne Burwell '97, Heathcock, Barry, and Culliney came 3rd in the Ivy League division at the Millrose Games held in Madison Square Garden. The Millrose Games are widely considered America's preeminent international meet; a roster of international stars competed.
The women's track and field team also competed this weekend, running in Kingston, R.I. against Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Holy Cross. The team finished fourth, amassing 82 points.
Several personal and season best were turned in, most coming in the mile. Sarah Howlett '98 finished second in 5:07.90, her fastest time of the year. Also in the mile Kirstin Pierce '96 and Deidre Milligan '98 set personal records with times of 5:10.90, and 5:14.76.
Dartmouth's lone event winner was Jenna Rogers '98 in the 3,000 meters. Emily Hodgson '98 was second.
Coach Sandra Ford-Centonze wanted her team to concentrate on improving individual times, in preparation for the upcoming Heptagonal Championships. She said she was pleased with individual improvement throughout the season shown at Friday's meet, and looked for the team to peak at the Heptagonals.
Several Big Green athletes sat the meet out to rest.
Both teams travel to Brown next weekend.
