Dartmouth men's and women's track prevailed in the Snowflake Invitational at Tufts University this past weekend, as both teams placed first out of thirteen schools.
Big Green athletes posted 11 first place finishes in various events to contribute to winning scores of 223 for the men and 196.5 for the women.
The meet's name was appropriate as temperatures reached the low teens and gusting winds posed a challenge to every event at the outdoor meet.
"The meet went very well in terms of our overall team score," men's coach Barry Harwick said. "This was our first meet of the home season after competing in Arizona over spring break against a very high level of competition."
Nevertheless, the coaching staff believed their squads could top the field prior to the meet.
"Going down to Tufts we really expected to win and did so rather easily," Harwick said.
Muhammed Abdul-Shakoor '11 ran away with the men's 100-meter dash with a winning time of 11.37 seconds. He was joined in the finals by four other Dartmouth runners.
"The most dominant event we had all day was the men's 100 meter," Harwick said.
Tim Edmonds '09 took second in the men's 200-meter run with a time of 22.87 seconds, followed closely by graduate student Brian Evans in third and Abdul-Shakoor in fifth.
Julian Thomas '09 placed first in the 400-meter run, clocking in at 51.34.
The Big Green also performed well in the distance events, placing a runner in the first six spots in the 800 meter, 1500 meter and 5000 meter.
The men gave a strong showing in the field events, most notably the long jump, shot put and discus throw.
Dartmouth took second through sixth place in the long jump, led by Mike Poppler '10 with a jump of 6.34 meters. Lee Murtha '09 won the shotput with a 14.27-meter throw, and David Irving '11 led the men with a 44.87-meter launch in the discus.
"In terms of the opponent's team scores, the competition is going to be a lot harder as we move into the Ivy League meets," Harwick said. "I don't expect us to dominate, but I do expect our individual performances to be higher and for the weather to be much better. As we progress farther into the season, our athletes should be in even better shape and we are looking forward to some great performances at Princeton."
While the men's team dominated the sprint events, the throwing contests were undoubtedly the highlight of the meet for the women's squad.
"I was very impressed by our throwers and excited by some of their performances," women's and sprinting coach Sandra Ford-Centoze said. "We have some great upperclassmen leading the way for the younger athletes in those events."
Jaclyn Wypler '11 won the javelin with a 39.88-meter throw, while Jessica Long '08 and Emily Daly '09 placed first in the hammer throw and shotput events with tosses of 52.06 meters and 12.69 meters, respectively.
Cassandre Tanner '08 won the women's long jump with a jump of 5.25 meters to round out the collection of field event victories.
Natalie Stoll '10 broke the ribbon in the women's 400-meter run after a lap of 59.49 seconds.
"Everyone competing gave a very strong performance," Ford-Centoze said. "Conditions were definitely less than favorable -- the Snowflake Classic lived up to its name. There was a persistent wind that really challenged a lot of the events, particularly the hurdles and distance races -- you could find yourself doing really well on one part of the track only to meet a wall of wind coming around a curve."
Both teams hope for the weather in Hanover to improve soon so that they can begin practicing outdoors. The indoor practice facility at Leverone Field House poses several difficulties in that its track is much smaller than a standard outdoor oval. The longest straightaway on that track, for example, is only 60-meters long.
"I do think everyone proved that they were up to the challenge. It is outdoor track season now, after all, and you can't control the weather," Ford-Centonze said. "The key for both teams right now is stay healthy and get outside,"
She added that the team plans to focus on improving in the areas in which it is already strong in order to maximize its chances for victory.
"We want to be sure to optimize our chances of scoring points in the outdoor-only events like javelin, discus and steeplechase because we haven't had a chance to capitalize on those during the indoor season, " she said.
The Big Green heads to Princeton, N.J., this weekend for the two-day Princeton Invitational.
