The Valentine's Invitational drew a large number of teams from colleges all over the United States, as well as from Canada, and some runners unaffiliated with university teams.
"I think everybody's goal going into this meet was to run a personal best and put down some marks that would compete with teams in the Ivy League," Muhammed Abdul-Shakoor '10 said.
Chris Zablocki '10 posted the men's top finish of the Valentine's Invitational, taking fourth place in the 5000-meter race with a time of 14:37.97. Ben True '08 ran the third-fastest 3000-meter race in Dartmouth history, finishing sixth with time of 7:59.87, a provisional qualifying time for the NCAA Championships. Brad Kenimer '12 and John Schroeder '10 placed 14th and 16th in the 3000-meter, respectively, both qualifying for the ECAC Championships. Kenimer finished in 8:18.40 and Schroeder finished in 8:19.20.
Tim Edmonds '09 and Trevor Middleton '09 qualified for the ECAC Championship as well. Edmonds took 16th in the 400-meter dash, while Middleton finished 11th in the 800-meter event. Abdul-Shakoor placed 11th in the 55-meter dash with a time of 6.57.
"It was kind of intimidating going into it because there were some really big names that I recognized, but, in the end, I just wanted to run a personal best," Abdul-Shakoor said.
Members of the women's team qualified for the ECAC Championships in four events. The distance medley team, comprised of Caitlin Cunningham '09, Lauren Campfield '11, Alexandra Tanner '11 and Chrissy Supino '12, placed third with a time of 11:50.72. Lizzie Short '12 notched a seventh-place finish in the 5000-meter race, completing the event in 17:23.62. Supino finished the 500-meter race fourth with a time of 1:15.82. The remaining ECAC qualifier was Marcy Van Arnam '09, who scored fifth in the 1000-meter race, crossing the line in 2:58.40.
The men's and women's field teams competed over the weekend at the MIT Coed Invitational. David Irving '11 won the weight throw for the men with a toss of 56'4", and Lee Murtha '09 won the shot put. Emily Daly '09 and Natalie Todd-Zebell '09 scored in the top two and qualified for ECACs in their respective events. Daly won the shot put with a toss of 46'7.25", beating her personal record by about 1.5 feet.
"I've kind of struggled with shot put in the past and it's all coming together now," she said.
Todd-Zebell notched a second-place finish in the pole vault event with a height of 12'5.25".
"We just wanted a chance to work on our techniques and whatnot," Daly said. "It was a good chance to win, get some points or get a [personal record]."
