Despite temperatures that climbed into the 30s on Saturday, both the men's and women's track teams were fighting it out inside in Leverone Field House at the Dartmouth Invitational. Fight, and fight well they did, with seven members of the men's team and seven members of the women's team winning their events with an eighth placing second only to a Dartmouth alumnus.
The men were headlined by the strong efforts of two juniors, both of whom took a first and a second. Joe Marucheck '04 won the triple jump for the second straight week, besting last week's mark by more than half a foot, jumping 46-2 3/4. He also placed second in the long jump (21-4 3/4) behind Ahmad Abdur-Rahim '04's jump of 21-8 1/4. Abdur-Rahim was second in the 200 run with a time of 22.89. Andy Hamilton '04 also took first in the 400 with a time of 50.88.
Not to be upstaged, the seniors represented themselves well, with three winners as well. Richard Efem '03 won the 60-meter dash with a mark of 6.98, Jeff Guenette '03 captured first in the 500 (1:06.08) and Jonathan Carlson '03 was first in the pole vault clearing fifteen feet even.
The final winner on the men's side came from the younger ranks. Michael Mozer '05 won the weight throw with a toss of 50-4 1/4. While this throw was almost a foot shy of his best, it was good enough for him to capture his first collegiate victory. He also placed fourth in the shot put with a personal best of 47-5. Despite their limited representation in the winner's circle, many other underclassmen had strong performances.
"Many of the young competitors on the team placed very well and showed their potential to anyone who had doubt," said Dru Hall '05 , a star pentathlete just coming off a foot injury.
The women's team had similar success as well as displaying that a track can be just as much a team sport as any other. With the help of two freshmen, Kelsey Wiegmann '06 and Mattie Chatterton-Richmond '06, who were willing to go out fast and set the pace, two sophomore Dartmouth runners were able to take first and second.
Betsy Williamson '05 won the race in a personal best time of 2:58.07 and was closely followed by Lili Peacock-Villada '05.
"Mattie did a really good job at setting the pace, the two girls who actually ran the race ended up with good times," Wiegmann said.
The two freshmen who selflessly sacrificed themselves for their teammates did not go unrewarded at the end of the day either. Wiegmann won the high jump with a collegiate personal best of 5-6 1/4, only 1/2 of an inch off the school record, while Chatterton-Richmond took second in the 60 hurdles to former Dartmouth All-American Shaina Damm '02.
Two seniors claimed top honors in their respective events: Lauren Sherry '03 won the 400 (1:00.65) while Marianne Hall '03 won the triple jump (35-2 1/2). The remaining three winners include another sophomore and two more freshmen. Lauren Ho '05 won the pole vault (11-0 1/4), Allison Smith '06 took the 3000 in 10:34.04 and Jamila Smith '06 brought home the shot put with a toss of 43-10 1/2.
Smith's toss was a personal best for her career, yet she took it all in stride: "Just as any athlete, I would like to improve and know that I gave it my all."
Hopefully the successes of this weekend will carry over to next weekend when both teams host Renssalaer and the University of Massachusetts-Lowell in Leverone Field House in another home meet.
