With a time of 8:51.91, Abbey D’Agostino ’14 set a Dartmouth record in the 3,000-meter race this weekend, coming away with the fastest time in the nation this year and the fourth-fastest indoor time ever run by a female collegiate athlete. Racing at the Millrose Games in New York on Saturday, she came in fourth, behind professional athletes, and broke the record she set last season by three and a half seconds.
“I knew it was going to be a competitive meet going in and was excited for an opportunity to run PR and just compete,” D’Agostino said. “The goal was to run in the 8:40s because that’s what we thought the pacer and top runner would run. It ended up not working out that way but it was a good race with the exception of a few moves. We always say you can’t be upset with a PR, so overall it was a good race.”
For her performance, D’Agostino was named the female athlete of the week by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association, an accolade she has received three other times in her career. D’Agostino now holds the fastest indoor time in the country this season for the mile, 3,000-meter and 5,000-meter, as well as holding top-four all-time record in each.
D’Agostino was one of only two collegiate runners competing in the event. She bested her competitor, Iona College sophomore Kate Avery, by over four seconds.
The rest of the Big Green track and field team competed at Boston University’s Scarlet and White invitational.
On the women’s side, standout performances came in the 800-meter run. Both Megan Krumpoch ’14 and Meggie Donovan ’15 ran sub-2:10 times. With a time of 2:06.36, Krumpoch finished second, less than a second behind the winner and the top collegiate runner. Donovan earned a top-five overall record with her time. Jennifer Meech ’16 ran a new personal best in the 400-meter race, finishing fourth with a time of 55.52.
“I talked to a couple of sprinters about trying to get a better time,” head women’s coach Sandy Ford-Centonze said. “I told [Meech] and the 400-meter runners to go out hard, especially on the first lap.”
The women excelled in the shot put. Emmaline Berg ’13 won, followed by Corinne Romano ’15 in third and Melissa Dunham ’17 in fourth. The Big Green athletes threw 14.39 meters, 12.5 meters and 12.35 meters, respectively. Berg also finished sixth in the weight throw.
Among the middle-distance runners, Elizabeth Markowitz ’16 finished the mile in 4:48.29, good for fifth overall, and Helen Schlachtenhaufen ’17 won her mile heat in 4:54.10, seventh overall.
“I tried not to think about Heps too much because I didn’t want to stress myself out, but I definitely thought about it a little,” Schlachtenhaufen said. “The race went out pretty normal and then slowed down a little. The last 400 I felt pretty good, and it was my fastest part of the race.”
The men’s team was led by strong performances from freshmen and sophomores in all disciplines. Alex Frye ’17 won the 60-meter hurdles in a time of 8.33, followed by Danny Katz ’16 who finished fourth in 8.63 seconds. Frye also finished second in the high jump by clearing 2.04 meters.
The freshmen throwers performed well once again, as Jonathan Beering ’17 finished second in the shot put with a distance of 15.7 meters and Tim Brennan ’17 who threw 13.69 meters, coming in fifth place.
Joey Chapin ’16 ran a very strong 8:10.74 in the 3,000-meter race, finishing in sixth place. Connor Clark ’17 was the top Dartmouth finisher in the mile with his time of 4:16.73, good for tenth.
“A bunch of sophomores have been having breakthrough seasons which is good to know that when the seniors leave there will still be a bunch of guys,” Clark said. “It is fun to be a freshmen and have so many successful guys to look up to.”
For many, it was the last chance to compete during the indoor season, as the Big Green now heads into championship season. Others used the meet as a final tune up before the Ivy League Heptagonal Championships, Ford-Centonze said.
“It’s always a good thing to have this last meet and last chance to run faster times or jump a better distance,” Ford-Centonze said.
Some athletes moved up in the rankings thanks to their performances in the meet, she added.
The Big Green have next weekend off before returning to Leverone Field House March 1-2 for the Ivy League Heptagonal Championships.
