The team's first meet, the Shamrock Classic, was hosted by Coastal Carolina on March 19-20. The meet featured entries from 38 colleges and over 1,200 athletes competed overall.
On the women's side, Priscilla Trojano '12 Indoor Heps pentathlon champion finished third in the heptathlon at the meet. Her score of 4,454 was a personal best by over 300 points. Sarah Klassen '10 had her best performance of the year, clearing 5'7" in the high jump to place second. Emmaline Berg '13 was third in the shot put with a throw of 46'10" a personal record.
For the men, co-captain Ted Lesher '10 was the only Dartmouth champion at the meet, winning the long jump. Lesher who finished second in the event at Indoor Heps jumped 23'4.75".
"I think I was the eighth seed going in, so I was really happy to be able to out-perform my competition and get a good mark in good weather," he said.
David Irving '11 also had a good day, placing fourth in the hammer with a throw of 183'2" and fifth in the discus with a toss of 150'4".
After their stint in Myrtle Beach, the teams drove north to Raleigh, N.C., to compete in the Adidas Raleigh Relays at N.C. State. It was another large meet, with 40 colleges and over 1,500 athletes.
Klassen again cleared 5'7" in the high jump, placing fourth.
Lesher finished second in the triple jump this time, jumping 49'9" to take the runner-up spot.
"This second meet at N.C. State was a good season opener for those who hadn't competed at Coastal Carolina," Lesher said. "I jumped 49'9" on my first jump of the competition, so I have very high hopes and expectations for the rest of the season. I was seeded ninth coming in and finished second against some of the best jumpers in the East, including an All-American from UNC, who I beat."
Irving had another strong throw in the hammer, tossing 183'4" feet, good enough for eighth. On the track, Phil Royer '13 finished fifth in his 3000-meter Steeplechase race, posting a time of 9:23.01.
"This was his first ever race in this event, and he handled it very well," Harwick said.
The trip to North and South Carolina is a change from the previous 10 years, when the team traveled to Arizona.
"It is nice to change things up a little," men's head coach Barry Harwick said. "The weather in Arizona is always near-perfect. Having said that, Myrtle Beach and Raleigh were pretty nice too. We also felt the need to make the trip a little more economical."
Because the trip marked the beginning of the outdoor season, there are several events different from those competed in during the indoor season.
The javelin throw and discus toss are added during the Spring season, while weight throwers move on to the lighter and more technical hammer throw.
As for running events, the 60-meter and 55-meter runs are replaced with the 100-meter dash, the 60-meter hurdles becomes the 110-meter hurdles and the mile run is instead the 1,500-meter run. There is also the addition of the 400-meter hurdles, 3,000-meter steeplechase, 10,000-meter run and 4x100-meter relay.
In the multi events, the men's heptathlon becomes the decathlon featuring the 100-meters, long jump, shot put, high jump, 400-meters, 110-meter hurdles, discus, pole vault, javelin and 1,500-meter run. The women's pentathlon turns into the heptathlon 100-meter hurdles, high jump, shot put, 200-meters, long jump, javelin and 800-meters.
The Big Green track and field squads will continue their outdoor seasons at the University of New Hampshire Invitational in Durham, N.H., on April 3.
