In addition to the teams' victories, the meet as a whole was just as successful, smoothly catering to the more than 2,000 athletes that competed during the three-day event.
The relays serve as the primary fundraiser for the Friends of Dartmouth Track and Field as well as a solid tool for recruiting. On Saturday, Dartmouth played host to over 1,200 high school athletes from upward of 100 different schools on Saturday, by far the busiest day of the meet.
"[The high school events were] very exciting," said women's head coach and sprints coach Sandra Ford-Centonze. "The level of competition and the quality seems to go up every year. [There were] lots of meet records, outstanding kids.
"It's always fun. It's a great atmosphere when the high school kids are here," she added.
Ending a two-year hiatus, the men reclaimed first with a very convincing margin, as second-place Williams College finished 22 points behind. Men's head coach Barry Harwick '77 cited the team's ability to perform well in all areas as a primary reason for the victory, as many of the other teams excelled in a few events but ultimately could not match Dartmouth in every event.
"[We had] less than a week of practice [before the meet] and we've had some very good performances," said Harwick, who also coaches the distance team. "We take a lot of pride [in having] people across the board. We did well in a lot of different events."
The women won by a margin of 12 points over Williams. While there were not any exceptional performances by the women's athletes, distance coach Maribel Souther--who took first in the open/collegiate mile--noted that the meet was only a beginning and there remains plenty of room for improvement.
"Some girls didn't run as well as they had hoped, but [there were close races]," said Souther. "It's hard when you haven't raced on an indoor track in a while. It's good to get a first race out of the way."
According to Ford-Centonze, the Relays provided the team an early performance to build upon. "Going into a first-season meet, coming off of three days of practice, I think we've seen where we are and where we need to go.
"We've got a whole six meets before [the Heptagonal Championship]. We're looking forward to steady improvement. I'm pleased with us defending our title here for the third time."
The men had several notable performances. Mike Carmody '08 won the collegiate/open mile by a wide margin in 4:20.1; Randy McKnight '08 took second in the long jump with a jump of 22'11.2'' and won the triple jump with a 46'6.25'' effort; Derrick Vinklarek '08 took second in the pole vault with a jump of 15'0.75''; and Fatih Stanley '06 and Ikechi Ogbanna '06 took third and fourth in the 60-meter sprint with times of 0:06.99 and 0:07.02, respectively.
The high school events also had their fair share of standouts. Eric Osei of East Providence High School inRhode Island won the 55-meter dash in 0:06.47 and Walter Henning of St. Anthony High School in New York threw 81 feet in the weight throw, winning by a margin of nearly 20 feet and setting a national junior class record.
Colonie High School of New York won the high school boys' competition, while James Millhouse High of Connecticut won the girls' contest.
The masters' events were also successful. While the number of masters-level athletes is still growing, there is hope for a steady improvement during the coming years.
"It's always fun to be able to offer the opportunities for those diehard track athletes to qualify for masters' nationals," said Ford-Centonze. "We're hoping that it will grow. [The relays are] a busy weekend, but it's worth it."
The Big Green will be back in action next weekend when UNH and Vermont come to town. The meet will be held throughout the day at Leverone Field House on Jan. 14th.
