The Dartmouth indoor track teams took to the oval this weekend and came away with seven victories between them. Hosting the Dartmouth Winter Classic held in Leverone Field House, the teams took their cue from strong freshman performances.
Though the meet was not scored, the men's team can be optimistic about the future after Saturday's results. Four freshmen won their respective events, with Charlie Stoebe winning the 400m in 50.20, Mike Carmody taking the 500 by 0.01 second in 1:04.09 and Derrick Vinklarek (15-0 in the pole vault) and Randy McKnight (21-6.5 in the long jump) also winning. Mike Lynch '08 nearly won a fifth event for the freshman contingent by finishing second in the 3000 in 9:06.77.
Stoebe passed two competitors in the last 20 meters to win his second meet of the year, though this is the first time he has won the 400. He won the 500 in the meet with UVM and UNH.
"I definitely was hoping that I would win, but I didn't expect it," Stoebe said. "I think the team competed really well. Some people may have been disappointed in their individual races, but on the whole we were competitive in nearly every event and that's definitely something to be proud of."
The team fielded several second-place finishers as well. Fatih Stanley '06 took second in the 60-meter dash in 7.03; Brian McCarthy '05, 6-6 in the high jump; Rob Kerris '07, 52-7.25 in the shot put; and Mike Mozer '05, 57-3 in the weight were the other three.
The Big Green women's team was almost as successful, taking home three events, even though many of Dartmouth's top runners were taking the weekend off. Megan Olds '06 dominated the 1000. Her time of 2:55.90 was better than anyone else's by more than seven seconds and qualified her for ECACs.
Lilly Bertz '07 was just as dominant, winning the pole vault by six inches by clearing 11-6.25.
The final winner was Melissa Machaj '07, who won the weight throw with a toss of 45-6.5. While she was happy with the win, she said she is "looking forward to throwing a lot further than I did this past weekend."
There were five runners-up on the women's side. Carmen Springer '07 came in second in the shot throwing 41-4.25, Matthan Chatterton-Richmond '06 leapt 17-3.25 in the long jump, Tessa Clare '05 cleared 5-4.25 in the high jump and Leslie Wright '08 came in second in the 400 with a time of 59.69. Captain Lili Peacock-Villada '05 was the runner-up in the 800 with a time of 2:19.91.
Peacock-Villada was pleased with how the meet went. It "was a good last home meet for us as a team heading into the last few weeks before Heps. The coaches did a good job of attracting more teams. It sets a better vibe."
She credited the better competition with the numerous personal records and the athletes who managed to post ECAC-qualifying marks.
Dartmouth is back in action on Saturday, Feb. 12, competing at the Fastrack Invitational.
