The Dartmouth men's and women's indoor track and field teams competed in the Boston University Terrier Invitational on Friday, Jan. 26 and Saturday, Jan. 27. There were no team scores at this meet, but it was an opportunity for the Big Green athletes to face good competition, improve times and distances and to qualify for championship meets.
By posting numerous personal records on the track and in the field, both the men and women are starting to hit stride as they prepare for the Heptagonal meet, the Ivy League track and field championship.
For the women's team, the field event athletes continued to produce impressive performances at the Terrier Invitational.
The pole vault saw two Big Green athletes finish first and second among the college participants. Natalie Todd-Zebell '09 was second in the event, clearing a height of 3.67 meters. Lilly Bertz '07 finished third, clearing 3.52 m. The winner of the event, Stephanie Duffy, is not affiliated with any college.
Dartmouth performed well in the throwing events, particularly the shot put. Captain Jamila Smith '06, who has been exceptional for the Big Green all season, finished second in the shot put with a distance of 13.31m. Other top finishers included Jessica Long '08 and Emily Daly '09, who finished in fourth and sixth place respectively.
On the track, Caitlin Cunningham '09, who has been running middle-distance events all season, was bumped up to the 3,000 for the first time ever and ran 9:58.0, a qualifying time for the IC4A Championships meet, a championship meet for colleges in the East.
Women's head coach Sandy Ford-Centonze was pleased with the progress her athletes made at the invitational.
"I felt that things went well. We had several PRs and saw times drop and field performances get better," Ford-Centonze said. "The ladies are all starting to improve at a rate that we look forward to when it comes to making the Heptagonal's roster. Next week is our invitational, which is a meet that we can have people work through and do other events. We will take the opportunity to tweak a few things and then for the last meet, the Valentine's Classic, concentrate on the events to be run at the Heptagonals."
Along with the women, the men have started to perform at a higher level, and the meet saw several personal records fall.
Randy McKnight '08 was the lone Big Green winner on the day, winning the triple jump by leaping 14.27m. Ted Lesher '10, who has been solid in his first season with the Big Green, finished third with a jump of 13.99m in the triple jump. Both McKnight and Lesher produced their best performances to date.
On the track, the day produced several fine performances and qualifiers for the IC4A Championships.
Charlie Stoebe '08 qualified for the IC4A meet in his second event, running 48.47 in the 400m dash, which was a personal record. Earlier in the season, Stoebe qualified in the 500m dash.
In the distance events, the day saw two Big Green athletes qualify for the IC4A meet in addition to lowering personal bests.
Trevor Middleton '08 ran 2:28.05 to finish third in the 1,000m run and Matt Davis '08 was tenth in the 5,000 with a time of 14:43.67. Many of the Big Green's distance runners did not compete in the invitational, including two of Dartmouth's best runners, Harry Norton '08 and Mike Carmody '08, who have yet to see action this season.
Men's head coach Barry Harwick '77 was happy to see his athletes get personal records and come closer to peak form.
"Overall, the meet went well. It was a big meet with 30 to 40 schools, so it was a great learning experience for us to be exposed to a high level of competition, and I think our athletes took full advantage of that. The month of January is about building up performances, so it was good to see some personal records. With less than a month until Heptagonals, I expect people to start reaching peak form," he said
Next week will be a big weekend for the Big Green with track and field action all weekend. On Friday, Feb. 2 and Saturday, Feb. 3, the team will be hosting the New Hampshire high school championships.
The Big Green will be back in action next Saturday, as the men's and women's teams host the Dartmouth Indoor Classic at Leverone Fieldhouse, the last home meet of the season for Dartmouth.
