Now is the time for Dartmouth track and field to be hitting its stride. It is halfway through the indoor season, the Heptagonals are at Harvard in two weeks and the IC4A's and ECAC's are the week after.
Over the weekend at the Valentine's Invitational at Boston University, the Dartmouth men's and women's squads went a long way to proving they are ready. In all, the Big Green garnered 11 IC4A and ECAC qualifying performances, and look to be improving when it counts.
For the men, the usual suspects pulled out the stops to reach IC4A qualifying standards. Tom McArdle '03 finished second in the 3,000 with a time of 8:17.65, while Tyler Haney '03 placed fourth in the 400 at 48.63.
Sean Kelley '02 also qualified in the 1,000 meter with a time of 2:29.05.
The women were even more impressive on Saturday, posting eight qualifiers. Erin Dromgoole '01 led the way in the 3,000 with 9:37.66. Jessie Allen-Young '03 followed at 9:51.46 and Lara Niell '02 with 9.55.16.
"Personally, I was happy to run a lifetime best in the 3000, but there's still a lot of work to be done if I want to qualify for NCAA's," said Dromgoole.
The others who have secured a spot in the ECAC meet include Meghann Ganey '01 who placed third in the 1,000 with 2:56.07, Sarah Hayes '01 fifth in the weight throw at 53-2 1/4, Allison Cardlin '01 sixth in the weight at 53-0 and Cecily Garber '03 seventh in the 800 in 2:14.11.
"This weekend at BU was a great sign of what we'll be able to do in two weeks when we get to challenge all the other Ivies," said Ganey.
Dartmouth will travel to Boston next weekend for the USA meet, before getting down to business at the IC4A's and ECAC's.
