On Saturday Dartmouth track and field jumped back into Northeast competition with authority, as both the men's and women's teams posted wins at Tufts' Snowflake Classic.
In besting the field of 16, the women easily outdistanced the competition with 212 points, a league above second-place Boston University's 137 and third-place Tufts' 122. The men had a much narrower victory in their field of 17, scoring 116 points to best Bates' 111.5 and third-place Tufts' 107.5.
In what was a relatively low-key meet for the Big Green after its spring training trip to Arizona, Dartmouth brought a split squad down to Tufts, resting many in preparation for next week's Princeton Invitational.
"We were certainly the best team there," men's head coach Barry Harwick '77 said. "I'm happy that we won, just because we did not deliberately set out to score as many points as we could, with some people trying different events ... it was nice to win the meet even though we didn't have all the athletes [competing]."
The men had a bevy of individual winners. Brian Evans '08 won the 100-meter dash in 11.06 seconds in addition to coming in second in the 200 meters in 22.40. Fellow sprinter Fatih Stanley '06 took the 200-meter dash in 21.95 seconds and took third in the 400 meters with a 49.08 run.
"Fatih Stanley had a particularly good meet, won the 200 in 21.95 in really windy conditions -- that was a very impressive time," said Harwick. "He also ran the 400 for the first time and ran 49.08. That's the fastest time we've had all season."
Derrick Vinklarek '08, Randy McKnight '08 and Rob Kerris '07 found success in the field events. Vinklarek won the pole vault with a 14'6" leap, while McKnight and Kerris were double winners.
McKnight out-bounded the field with a 6.67-meter long jump and 13.65-meter triple jump and Kerris out-threw his competition with a 15.42-meter shot put toss and a 46.63-meter discus throw, in addition to taking third in the hammer throw with a distance of 47.91.
The women also saw their fair share of strong performances. Nicole LaBombard '09 won the high jump with a 1.57-meter leap, Erika Graham '08 cleared 11 feet to win the pole vault and Caitlin Corey '06 won the javelin with a 37.48-meter throw.
On the track, Ashley Smith '09 took second in the 100-meter dash with a time of 12.94 seconds; Marcy Van Arnam '09 took fourth in the 1500 meters with a 4:58.78 run; Elisa McCarthy '08 finished second in the 5000, clocking in at 18:12.18; Natalie Todd-Zebell '09 finished second in the 3000-meter steeplechase in 12:08.98; and Dartmouth practically swept the 100-meter hurdles, taking second through eighth place, led by Karen Woolley '09's 15.44-second run.
The women also did well in the 400m hurdles, as Mattie Chatterton-Richmond '06 took second in 1:04.46 and Woolley came in fourth in 1:07.80.
The Big Green had good results at Tufts, and is looking to continue to build on a productive spring break as it heads down to the Princeton Invitational next weekend with a full squad.
Harwick has set the team's goals at improving upon its fifth-place showing at the indoor Ivy League Championship this winter at the outdoor Heptagonal Championships and winning the New England Championship, both goals within reach of this year's squad.
Women's head coach Sandra Ford-Centonze is likewise looking to better the women's seventh-place finish at Indoor Heps, citing the added events for the outdoor season as ones that Dartmouth should excel in.
"We really enjoyed going to Arizona, we got an awful lot of work accomplished," said Harwick. "I'm optimistic about the season; I think we'll do quite well."
The Princeton Invitational will be held at Princeton, N.J. on April 7-8.
