Track Hurdles Competition at Tufts Meet

The indoor track and field team trekked to Boston through snowy conditions on Saturday, Feb. 15 to participate in the Tufts Cupid Challenge, hosted by the Jumbos at the Gantcher Center. The meet is often referred to as “Tufts’ Last Chance,” the final competition of the indoor season that offers an opportunity for athletes to hit qualifying marks that will send them on to postseason meets. The day was one full of quality NESCAC competition, and though the Panther squad had to depart the meet earlier than anticipated due to inclement weather, its strong showing set the stage for a promising postseason in the upcoming weeks.

On the men’s side, particularly strong finishes included Peter Hetzler’s ’14 fifth place effort of 51.32 in the 400m and Wilder Schaaf’s ’14.5 fourth place performance of 1:57.55 in the 800m. Sam Klockenkemper ’17 and Sam Cartwright ’16 also put forward top ten finishes, taking fifth and sixth place respectively in the 1,000 meters. The distance squad’s success was rounded out by Kevin Wood ’15 taking third in the 5k with a time of 15:14.14.

The distance medley relay (DMR) team had an unfortunate baton drop in the first leg of the race, resulting in a slower finish than the high-ranked team had hoped for. Luckily, however, the squad met the qualifying mark for next weekend’s Div. III New Englands on Feb. 7 at Boston University.

The DMR team will be joined by many more Panther teammates at New Englands next weekend, as five more athletes hit their qualifying marks in Saturday’s competition, filling out the list of those who had already done so earlier in the season. In total, the men’s side puts forward a lengthy list of 29 potential entries for New Englands.

On the women’s side, the day also brought a number of exciting top ten finishes.

Erzsie Nagy ’17 and Alex Morris ’16 finished in fourth and sixth place in the 800 meters, posting respective times of 2:21.40 and 2:22.50, while Alison Maxwell ’15 took third in the 1,000 meters in 3:04.9 and Sasha Whittle ’17 took eighth in the same event with a time of 3:10.83.

Other high finishers included Alyssa Taylor ’17 taking 7th in the 5k, Chelsea Montello ’16 taking 10th in the long jump, Jackie Kearney ’16 taking 10th in the 60m hurdles, and Hannah Blackburn ’17 taking 10th in the triple jump. Blackburn also placed third in the long jump with a mark of 16 feet 8 inches, and Laura Strom ’14.5 continued her stellar senior season with a win in the high jump, finishing at 5 ft. 5.75 inches.

“I was happy with my performance because it means that I am getting consistent at a higher height,” Strom said. “But I am looking forward to a more competitive field in the coming weeks and hoping it will push me so I can get up to 5’ 8” again.”

Strom heads into next weekend’s DIII New England’s ranked number one in the region.

The women’s DMR team once again put up a strong performance, beating Bates by just under a second to win their race in a time of 12:09.67.

“We were pleased with the women, although we are still mixing up who runs what on the legs so that we can get the fastest combination,” Distance Coach Nicole Wilkerson said. “We graduated all but the 400m runner from last year’s relay, so although we are rebuilding this year, we are doing a really good job, and it is fun.”

As a whole, the women have 27 total qualifying marks that can be entered this coming weekend at New Englands.

“This is an exciting time,” head coach Martin Beatty said of the coming weeks of championship competition. “These are the meets that we work towards and can award honors to people who score.”

The Panther men head to MIT this weekend on Saturday, Feb. 22 while the women return to action at Springfield, where those who have qualified will compete in the Div. III New England Championships.