The Big Green men's and women's track teams defended their home territory this weekend, taking down all opposition at the Dartmouth Outdoor Invitational.
The women's final score of 194 points placed them significantly above both the second- and third-place teams, the University of New Hampshire and Middlebury College, who posted 127.5 and 84 points, respectively. The men, with a score of 283, boasted an 80-point margin over second-place finisher Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
Both Dartmouth teams dominated the relay races. The women took first in the 4x400 meter relay with a time of 3:56.26, while the men similarly posted the race's best finish in 3:21.63. The men flaunted their speed in the 4x100 meter race as well, finishing in a mere 42.54 seconds.
The first and second spots in the women's 800-meter run went to Dartmouth's Audrey Weber '09, with a time of 2:12.76, and Christina Supino '12, who followed closely with a time of 2:13.58. Lexi Pappas '12, who bettered her personal record in the 800 meters by seven seconds, said she was proud of herself and the team as a whole.
"In general it was a day of huge successes in the 800 for our team," she said.
The men one-upped the girls in their 800-meter race, taking not only the first two finishes, but the third as well. Tom Robbins '11 took first in 1:50.81, followed by Trevor Middleton '09 and John Turro '12.
The Dartmouth men also found success in the 1500- and 5000-meter races. Oliver Townsend '09 won first place in the 1500, completing the race in 3:51.31, and Ethan Shaw '12 and Glenn Randall '09 crossed the 5000-meter line in 14:38.06 and 14:45.06, respectively, to claim first and second place.
The men's team also had an impressive showing in the 100-meter, 200-meter and 400-meter dashes. Muhammed Abdul-Shakoor '10 needed a mere 10.88 seconds to run 100 meters, gaining the top spot. Tim Edmonds '09 followed suit, winning the 400-meter dash with a time of 48.94. Edmonds also placed second in the 200-meter dash.
The women, meanwhile, excelled in hurdles this weekend. Karen Woolley '09, running the 100-meter hurdles in 14.73 seconds, took first, as did Alexandra Tanner '11, who completed the 400-meter hurdles in 1:01.49.
The Big Green's success continued in the 3000-meter steeplechase, as the Dartmouth men filled the top three positions -- Chris Zablocki '10 won in 9:25.95, closely followed by Jason Lyon '10 in 9:27.92 and Andrew Han '09 in 9:35.90.
Dartmouth's winning streak on the track also translated to the field.
Emily Daly '09 threw her hammer 56.26 meters to secure first place, and Christina Alexander '11 threw 45.97 meters for second. Anna Niedbala '12 won the discus throw with a toss of 42.22 meters, while Alexander and Daly took the second and third spots, respectively, in that event. Alexander is currently a mere foot away from an NCAA-qualifying distance.
"I'd like to hit that mark if possible," she said.
Tim Wunderlich '09 took first in the javelin, throwing for 61.15 meters.
Natalie Todd-Zebell '09 took first in the pole vault, clearing 3.75 meters, .04 meters above the second-place finisher. The women also claimed first and second in the high jump, with Sarah Klassen '10 and Rachel Pallin '12 both jumping 1.65 meters. Pallin's placement below Klassen was decided by previous jumps.
The men also performed well in jumping events, as Ted Lesher '10 clinched two first-place finishes with a long jump of 6.9 meters and triple jump of 14.6 meters.
The men's and women's teams will split up this weekend, with some traveling to Pennsylvania to compete in the three-day Penn Relays and others heading to the University of Massachusetts.
