Fueled by several stellar performances, the Dartmouth men's and women's track and field teams both had successful weekends, taking first place in their home meet against the University of Maine and the University of Vermont on Jan.15.
Several members of the women's team performed well in both track and field events, and Dartmouth's 72 points helped the team edge out second place Maine by 19 points and third place Vermont by 26 points.
Individual field event performances from Malina Simmers '11 and Christina Alexander '11 earned significant points for Dartmouth. Simmers took first place in the triple jump by jumping 11.60 meters. Alexander won both of her events, taking the weight throw with a distance of 15.34 meters and the shot put with a 12.59-meter throw.
"I'm really trying to hit 16-meters because it's the [Eastern College Athletic Conference] qualifying mark, but I didn't hit it so I was kind of disappointed in that," Alexander said. "But I have been very consistent so I'm happy about how my season's progressing thus far."
Janae Dunchack '14 also starred for the Big Green, winning the high jump and the 200-meter dash events.
With many track athletes resting this weekend, Dunchack participated in more events than she would normally compete in during a single meet. Although Dunchack said she is typically involved with more field events, her heptathlete training allowed her to successfully compete in the 200-meter event.
The competition was Dunchack's second meet as a member of the Big Green, and she said she expects to continue to improve her skills and times throughout the season.
"I definitely felt a lot more comfortable this meet than I did last week, and I'm really hoping to get better as the season goes on," she said.
Other team members said they are optimistic about their chances at success as the season progresses, especially approaching their next meet against Columbia University and Yale University.
Caroline Buck '13 and Megan Krumpoch '14 also delivered powerful showings on the track, winning the 500-meter and the 400-meter events, respectively.
Buck is a member of The Dartmouth Staff.
On the men's side, the Big Green improved upon a second place finish in last weekend's Dartmouth Relays to win the matchup with a total score of 94 points. The team defeated both Maine and Vermont, who scored 54 and 29 points, respectively.
Dartmouth registered victories by David Irving '11, Ian McAfee '12 and Dom Filiano '14 in field events. Irving won the weight throw with a distance of 18.47-meters and Filiano won the shot put with a distance of 15.71 meters. McAfee pole-vaulted 4.42 meters to win the event.
On the track, Connor Reilly '13 won the 60-meter dash with a time of 6.93 seconds and Ben Bramhall '11 finished first in the 800-meter run in 1:57.24. Jalil Bishop '14 won two competitions, the 200-meter and the 400-meter events in 22.54 seconds and 50.08 seconds, respectively.
"I just came back and wanted to be focused and ran my best time," Bishop said. "I definitely feel much stronger. I just feel a lot of progress coming in the future."
As a rookie runner, Bishop said his relative lack of experience was no disadvantage on the field.
"I understand I'm a freshman but I really don't think about it," he said. "I work hard every day in practice and work hard in the meets so I just go out there and do my best. The person that works the hardest wins in the end."
The men's team also performed well in distance events. Ethan Shaw '12 won the 3,000-meter run with a time of 8:19.59. Jamie Mitchell '14 also had success in his event, helping his team win the 4x800-meter relay and the 1,000-meter event in 2:29.41.
"We all had a really good showing," Mitchell said. "We won both the men's and the women's as a whole. I think all around everyone had a good day."
The next meet for both teams is Jan. 22 at 7:30 p.m. in New York City, against Columbia and Yale.
