The Dartmouth men's and women's track teams competed in the 118th Penn Relays and the University of New Hampshire Invitational this past weekend. The women's 4x1500-meter relay team set a new school record after finishing fourth behind the University of Oregon, Georgetown University and Villanova University with a time of 17:44.95.
"The Penn Relays are always exciting," co-captain Alexi Pappas '12 said. "There are so many teams who compete here and thousands of people watching. I'm glad we had the privilege to go."
Pappas, whose senior season has consisted of numerous records, said that this year has been a special one so far.
"It's been such a blast," she said. "For me personally, I've been putting in 100 percent in track and missing out on a lot of spring senior social activities, but I'm OK with that. I'm lucky to be in the position that I'm in right now before I leave Dartmouth."
In New Hampshire, Megan Krumpoch '14 came in first in the 400-meter hurdles on Saturday. Krumpoch, who competed at the Penn Relays a day earlier, finished with a time of 1:04.45. Laura Hempel '12 took the top spot in the 5,000-meter run, coming in at 18:12.20, and Emmaline Berg '13 won the discus after throwing it 40.98 meters on her second attempt. Berg also took third in the shot put.
Katelyn Walker '14 almost won the 1,500-meter run, coming in only one second behind the University of Vermont's Kirsten Weberg. Naomi Stahl '12 and Kaitlyn D'Orazio '13 came in third place in the 400-meter dash and 800-meter run, respectively. Lauren Ready '15 won her heat in the 100-meter hurdles and came in fifth overall with a time of 15.11.
The men's team competed in two events on Friday at the Penn Relays. The distance medley relay team, consisting of Jalil Bishop '14, Steve Mangan '14, Lukas Zirngibl '14 and Will Geoghegan '14, finished third in its heat with a time of 9:57.94. The 4x400-meter relay team placed seventh in its heat in 3:23.74 in the second event for the Big Green.
During the second day at Penn, the men competed in the 4x800-meter relay, the javelin and the hammer throw. The relay team finished in third place in a time of 7:32.03. In the hammer throw, T.J. Servino '15 came in eighth place with a measured distance of 54.25 meters. Colin Quinn '15 threw 52.26 meters, good for a 24th-place finish.
Quinn said that competing in his first Penn Relays was a memorable experience.
"It was an amazing experience competing in the Relays," he said. "Last year I encountered an injury and wasn't able to compete, so this year was even more built-up than normal. On Saturday when I competed, there were around 50,000 people attending the meet, and the atmosphere was amazing."
The Big Green men also made their presence known at the UNH Invitational on Saturday afternoon. Connor Reilly '13 won the 100-meter dash with a time of 10.46 seconds, while Brett Buskey '15 placed second in 10.63. In the 200-meter dash, Buskey came in first in 22.22 seconds, with Reilly right behind him in second place with a time of 22.26. Jake Neumann '15 won the discus event after his fifth throw of 44.58 meters placed him in the top spot.
"It's always a rush to take first place, but it was a pretty low-key meet, and Heps this week is the meet that really counts," Neumann said.
The Big Green also came out on top in the 4x100-meter relay, as a team of Buskey, Reilly, Hector Reynoso '12 and Kevin Crowley '13 posted a time of 42.67. In the 1,500-meter run, Dartmouth had three runners in the top four spots. Mike Danaher '13 came in second with a time of 4:00.26, with Luke Decker '15 and Silas Talbot '15 coming in third and fourth, respectively.
"Overall, the meet went well," Neumann said. "I'd say the highlight of the day was Connor Reilly. His 100-meter sprint was the best time in the Ivy League this year."
Dartmouth will compete in the Heptagonal Championships this coming weekend at Penn. Athletes on both teams said that they are anxious and excited to get things going.
"I have been personally letting my arm calm down and get ready for another round of competitive throwing this Saturday," Quinn said. "Workouts are pretty light focusing on agility and technique more than anything, as well as getting mentally in the game."
Pappas said that team unity is crucial for Heps unlike in previous races that are done more individually.
"At Heps, team spirit really matters," she said. "I hope we can come together as a team to successfully compete in this race."
The men expect to receive good results from Servino, who will be competing in the hammer throw, and Brett Gilson '13 in the javelin. On Saturday, both Reilly and Buskey will seek success in the 100 and 200-meter dashes and John Bleday '14 will take on the 5,000-meter run, having already won the 3K in February's Indoor Heps.
The women's track team hopes to get points from Bridget End '14 in the 10,000 meters on Saturday and last season's outdoor champion Priscilla Trojano '12 in the indoor heptathlon. Dartmouth will also focus on the 3K and steeplechase, which will be run by two of the Big Green's best runners, Abbey D'Agostino '14 and Pappas, respectively.
"Heps is a different breed of a weekend," Pappas said. "It's more intimate there are only eight teams competing. It's super tactical and mental, but fun."
