The Dartmouth men's and women's track teams competed in the Dartmouth Invitational, the last home meet of the season and one of the final tune-up meets before the Heptagonal championships, the Ivy League championships of track. Although the meet was not scored, the Big Green made an impressive showing by dominating the competition in Leverone Fieldhouse.
On the men's side, the meet saw many season bests and several lifetime bests, showing that the athletes are beginning to peak at the right time.
In the throws, captain Rob Kerris '07 had personal records in both of his throws, throwing 52-01.25 feet in the shot put and hurling 52-11.5 feet in the weight throw.
The jumpers made a particularly impressive showing at the meet. Randy McKnight '08, who has won an event in all but one meet so far, was a double-winner on the day, winning the triple jump and the long jump. Andrew Ching '10 won the high jump clearing 6-04 feet, and Tim Wunderlich '09, the team's biggest multi-event threat, turned in a breakout performance in the pole vault, clearing 14-6 feet.
The sprinters have begun to reach top form. Pete Piderman '10 crushed the competition in the 60-meter hurdles, winning with a time of 8.54, almost two-tenths of a second better than the next-best time. In the 60-meter dash, Brian Evans '08 ran a personal best, clocking a 7.08. In the 400, Charlie Stoebe '08 and Julian Thomas '09 took the top two places, with Stoebe winning in 49.36 and Thomas following in 50.59. The 4x400-meter relay cruised to victory, winning by a full turn with a time of 3:25.
In the distance events, many of the competitors competed in shorter events than usual to work on speed. Trevor Middleton '09, who usually competes in the 800-meter or 1,000-meter run, won the 500-meter dash with a time of 1:06.14. In the mile, Grant Allen '08 whose forte is the 3,000-meterm run, won the event by running 4:19.57.
There were several other top distance performances on the day, which resulted in a trio of second-place finishes. Greg Haines '08, Alex Hall '10 and Chris Zablocki '10 finished runners-up in the 800, 1,000 and 3,000-meter runs, respectively.
Next week, the runners will return to their primary events. Alec Wall '07 and Harry Norton '08, two of the conference's best runners who have yet to compete, will see action for the first time. However, Mike Carmody '08 is doubtful for next week with nagging injuries.
Men's coach Barry Harwick '77 was pleased with his team's performances.
"As far as injuries," he added, "most of them are starting to be resolved, but Carmody's injury has been big, and I don't know if he'll run next week."
If Carmody can not run at Heptagonals, it will be a huge setback for the Big Green. Carmody is one of the premier middle-distance runners in the country, and is the defending champion in the 800-meter run.
The women's team also performed well, as there were at least ten season bests or lifetime bests in the meet.
Dartmouth has fared well in the jumps and the throws so far this season, and this meet was no different. In the pole vault, which has been the Big Green women's strong suit all year, Lilly Bertz '07 edged out teammate Natalie Todd-Zebell '09. Both Bertz and Todd-Zebell cleared 12-00ft, but Bertz won on jumps, since she had fewer misses. Cassandre Tanner '08 won the long jump for the second time this season.
In the throws, captain Jamila Smith '06 and Jessie Long '08 finished second and third in the shot put. In the weight throw, Smith and Long came back to get second and third.
The Big Green put up some impressive performances in the sprinting events, where the the team has struggled at times this year. Ashley Smith '09 was second in the 60-meter dash with a time of 8.10. Newcomer Natalie Stoll '10 won the 500-meter dash with a time of 1:18.29. Dartmouth cruised to victory in the 4x400-meter relay, finishing in 4:00.10, five seconds better than the next best time.
The most dominant performance on the day came in the one-mile run. Dartmouth took the first seven places, led by Laura Tabor '10 who ran 5:14.32. Trailing closely in second place was classmate Ali Smrcina, who finished in 5:14.87. Tabor was almost a double winner on the day, but she had to settle for second in the 800-meter run. The 1,000-meter run was also successful for the Big Green women, as Megan Ramirez '09 won the event followed by Marcy Van Arnam '09.
Women's coach Sandy Ford-Centonze was happy with the day's results.
"We were successful today because we got good performances across the board," Ford-Centonze said. "This week, we're still going to train hard, but we're going to start tapering after that for the Heptagonals. The next meet, we'll put people in their primary events, so we'll see how that goes."
Next week, both teams will travel to Boston, Mass. on Friday, Feb. 9 for Boston University Valentine's Invitational. This meet is a key meet, since it is the last tune-up meet before the Heptagonals.
