Three members of the Dartmouth track and field team will spend this weekend competing for All-American honors at the NCAA Indoor Track Championships.
Distance runners Sam Wilbur '94, Ted FitzPatrick '95 and Maribel Sanchez '96 met the NCAA qualifying times during the season and will compete against the nation's best runners.
Sanchez and FitzPatrick will run in the 5,000 meters, where they are currently ranked eighth and 12th in the nation.
Women's Coach Sandra Ford-Centonze said she hopes Sanchez "competes the way she is capable." Ford-Centonze said Sanchez has "a legitimate shot at being an All-American." Sanchez did not run last weekend, instead preparing for the championships.
Men's Coach Barry Harwick said FitzPatrick also has an excellent chance of becoming an All-America.
But Dartmouth's best shot at an individual title rests with the legs of Wilbur, who will run the 3,000 meters.
"Sam will be one of the of the favorites in the that event," Harwick said. In preparation for the championship, Wilbur ran the mile in Tennessee last weekend.
Continuing his string of excellent performances, Wilbur ran 4:02.26, breaking the school record of 4:05.24. The performance also qualified Wilbur to run the mile at the NCAA Championships.
While those three athletes prepare for this weekend's action the rest of the team begins preparing for the outdoor season. Last weekend's IC4A and ECAC championships were the last indoor meets of the season for the teams.
At the IC4A Championships in Princeton, N.J. the men finished in a 12th place tie with Brown. Harwick said the team competed very well. He was especially pleased that, "every [Dartmouth] athlete who ran there scored," for the team.
Leading the charge were seniors Aaron Bouplon and Scott Shimooka. Bouplon, who performed well throughout the season, finished third in the 5,000 meters and set a personal best with his time of 14:20.06. Harwick called the race a great opportunity for Bouplon to, "shine on his own."
Shimooka, who has been a consistent 16-foot pole vaulter this indoor season, moved another foot up, breaking his personal best with a vault of 16' 7". The vault placed Shimooka second. Shimooka cleared the bar easily on his first attempt and Harwick felt that Shimooka had a good chance at clearing a greater height. But his legs cramped up and he could not clear the higher bar.
Harwick said Shimooka will have a decent chance to break the 17-foot mark as the team moves to the outdoor season.
Other strong performances were turned in by Jack Dwyer '96 and Chris Langan '96, who finished sixth and seventh, respectively, in the 3,000, and by Dave Erickson '96, who placed eighth in the shot put.
The women's team ran in Syracuse, N.Y. finishing in a three-way tie for 26th.
Ford-Centonze said she and the team members were a little disappointed with their performance.
She said that the athletes, "competed well" but the, "results weren't what we hoped."She said that the team was a little down after the heptagonal championships the weekend before.
Kristin Cobb '95 finished fourth in the 3,000 to lead the Big Green.Kristin Manwaring '96 and Amy Winchester '96 also placed. Manwaring finished seventh in the mile, and Winchester finished eighth in the shot put.
