Despite facing rainy weather conditions, the Dartmouth men's and women's track and field teams had strong showings at the Princeton University Larry Ellis Invitational last weekend.
Several athletes from both squads broke personal bests and placed in the top 10 of their respective events.
Brett Gilson '13 led the men's team with strong showings in three events. He ran a personal best of 16.21 seconds in the 110-meter hurdles, finished sixth in the javelin with a throw of 186'5" and cleared 14'3.25" in the pole vault.
Dan Ostrovsky '10 also broke his previous personal shot put record with a throw of 46'8.25", David Irving '11 stretched his personal best to 57.57 meters in the hammer throw, and Phil Royer '13 broke his personal record in the steeplechase, with a time of 9:16.50.
"I'm really happy with how everyone's been doing this year, a lot of freshman have really stepped up, and that's really important because we've graduated some big scorers recently," captain Ted Lesher '10 said. "A lot of the upperclassmen have been doing their part as well."
Head coach Barry Harwick said the men's track and field team is one of the most balanced teams he has had at Dartmouth, adding that he thinks it is in a good position to succeed at the Ivy League Outdoor Championships in May.
"Our goal, first and foremost, is to perform our best at the Ivy League championships, May 8th and 9th at Princeton," Harwick said. "Individually and as a group we're always trying to point towards that."
The Dartmouth women's team also saw several individual personal bests over the weekend. Alexandra Tanner '11 led the women with strong performances in both of her events. In the 400-meter hurdles Tanner finished second with a time of 61.33 and contributed a 56-second split in the 4x400-meter relay. Other impressive individual performances included that of co-captain Natalie Stoll '10 in the 400-meter notching a time of 56.5 seconds. The co-captain also did well in the 200-meter, finishing in 25.96 seconds, a personal best.
"We had a lot of breakthrough performances in [the Princeton] meet," co-captain Alexandra Smrcina '10 said. "It's extremely encouraging and motivating to have your training partners doing so well, and that success is contagious. I'm very confident that we're going have a lot more good performances in the near future and especially at the outdoor Ivy League Championships."
Several Dartmouth athletes also cracked personal bests in the 800-meter. Amy Schuman '12 set a new personal record with a time of 2:16.06, while Christina Supino '12 improved her personal best to 2:12.03, when she won the 800-meter on Sunday.
Schuman also set a new personal record in the 1,500 meters coming in at 4:32.30.
Additionally, the women had strong performances in its field events, as two Dartmouth throwers competed in the finals. Emmaline Berg '13 came in fourth in the shot put with a throw of 44'7", while Anna Niedbala '12 threw a 123'4" in the discus, for an eight place finish.
Malina Simmers '11 took fifth in the triple jump with a 38'10.5" bound, while Kristin Kern '10 cleared a life time personal-best of 1.70 meters, 5'7" when she took second in the high jump. Joy Piotrowski '13 also got over 36' in the triple jump.
In the javelin two Big Green athletes finished in the top five captain Jaclyn Wypler '11 was third at 122'0" and Megan Faeth '12 was fifth at 120'2".
Women's coach Sandy Ford-Centonze said she was excited about the team's latest performance.
"What's been happening so far in the season, is what you want see happen; people are getting faster," Ford-Centonze said. "Things are definitely on the upswing, and we're looking for people to peak at the Ivy League Championships."
Ford-Centonze also emphasized the motivating team spirit she has witnessed this season.
"I've seen a lot of good camaraderie this season, people cheering for each other," she said. "I've seen a lot of people pushing each other in practice, which helps [the athletes] when it's time to compete, because it is not a foreign feeling. It's been really good for [the team]."
The Dartmouth track and field teams will compete in two events this weekend, as a select group of athletes will travel to the University of Pennsylvania Relays in Philadelphia, P.a., while others will attend the Yale Springtime Invitational in New Haven, Conn.
