Women's Track 5th at Amherst Spring Fling

Women's Track 5th at Amherst Spring Fling

AMHERST, Mass. – The men and women's track teams continued their march towards championship season today at the Amherst Spring Fling Invitational.  Competing against a slew of some of the best teams in New England including Williams, Amherst, Middlebury, and others, both teams had some very fine performances on what was a relatively cold and windy day.   In terms of team scores, the men impressed in second scoring 68 points while the women came home tied for 5th with 35 points.

The men picked up three event wins from graduate student Irie Gourde (Portland, Ore./ York Academy, Canada) in the 400m, junior Scott Grote (Greenfield, Mass./ Greenfield) in the discus, and sophomore Churchill Perry (Pembroke Pines, Fla./ Westminster Academy) in the triple jump.  In the 400m, Gourde came across the line in a controlled 49.29s, besting his next closest competitor by almost a full second. For his effort, he was awarded both the Division III New England Championship standard as well as the standard for DIII ECAC's.   Grote performed just as well, picking up both standards himself.  His 43.15m (141'-7") throw was good enough to outdistance 2nd place by close to ten feet. Not to be outdone Perry also picked up both standards with his 13.99m (45'-10.75") jump which also happened to be an outdoor collegiate best. 

On the women's side, the highest placing finisher was sophomore Kayla Fahey (Kingston, Mass./ Silver Lake Regional) who placed second in both the 400m hurdles and the long jump.  Fahey's marks of 70.67s in the hurdles and 4.94m (16'-2.5") in long jump both met the ECAC DIII standard. The other standout event for the women was the 800m where Judges went 3,4,7,8,9.  Junior Meaghan Barry and senior Kyra Shreeve with their 3rd and 4th place finishes respectively.  Barry crossed with a time of 2:23.92 with Shreeve very close behind in 2:24.09. 

Junior Regan Charie (Topsfield, Mass./ Masconomet Regional) had a very good day taking home 2nd in the 100m in a time of 11.16 seconds and 3rd in the 200m with a time of 22.58.  Charie like his teammates was awarded both championship standards for both of his runs.  Impressively, his times from today's meet were significantly faster than last season, a season that saw him eventually run 10.92 and 22.06.  Charie also anchored the 4x100m relay that placed 3rd in 44.92.  That relay team consisted of Lorenzo Maddox (Atlanta, Ga/ Maynard Jackson), Jacob Ward (Weston, Fla./Cypress Bay), Michael Kroker (Aumsville, Ore./ Cascade) and, the aforementioned Charie. 

In the field seniors Jordin Carter (Fort Wayne, Ind./R. Nelson Snyder), Jessie Moore (Rye, N.Y./ Rye), and Beth Defossez (Boxford, Mass./ Masconomet Reg.) all picked up points for the Judges.  Carter placed 3rd in the hammer throw with a toss of 40.04m (131'-4").  She also competed in the shot put, placing 6th with a 9.74m (32'-0.25") throw.  Moore was third in the long jump leaping 4.86m (15'-11.5") along with competing in multiple other events during the meet as to practice for a heptathlon later in the season. Defossez placed 4th in the pole vault going 2.75m (9'-0.25"), qualifying for ECAC's in the process.

In the 100m junior Kanya Brown (Amherst, Mass./ Amherst) picked up points with her 13.06s, 6th place run.  Rookie Niamh Kenney (Hanover, Mass./Hanover) debuted in the 5000m running 18:43.56 for 5th.  Her time qualifies her for ECACs.  In the 100m hurdles, two Judges went 5,6 with Lydia Harris (Damariscotta, M.E./Lincoln Academy running 17.12 for 5th and Tessa Holleran (Norwell, Mass./Norwell) running 17.78 for 6th.

For the men along with his triple jump win, Perry also picked up points for the Judges in the 400m, placing 5th in 52.05 seconds.  First-year Joshua Lombardo (Westbrook, M.E./ Westbrook) also placed 5th in 800m, running a collegiate best of 2:00.66 seconds, an almost 3-second improvement for his race last week.  Sophomore Jack Allan (Wrentham, Mass./ King Phillip Reg.) doubled up placing 2nd in the 110m hurdles in 15.79 as well as finishing 5th in the high jump with a jump of 1.73m (5'-8").  Similarly, freshman Kevin Truong (Milford, Mass./Milford) doubled up in the horizontal jumps placing 2nd in the long jump and 3rd in the triple jump.  Truong got out 5.98m (19'-7.5") in the long and 11.58m (38") in the triple.  Also in the long jump fellow rookie Michael Leung (Stoneham, Mass./Stoneham) placed 4th with a 5.83m (19'-1.5") jump. Two final events, the pole vault, and javelin had multiple Judges scoring.  In the vault sophomore Aaron Corin (Sudbury, Mass./ Lincoln-Sudbury) placed 4th going 4.10m (13'-5.25") while freshman Breylen Ammen (Lincoln, Mass./ Lincoln-Sudbury)  was 6th in 3.95m (12'-11.5").  The javelin saw rookie Tanner Richards (Northwood, N.H./Coe Brown Northwood Aca.) suit up for the Judges on the track for the first time.  Richards placed 4th with a heave of 45.90m (150'-7") while Michael Kroker was 6th in 40.36m (132'-5").

The Judges will return to action next weekend in New London, CT where Connecticut College hosts the highly competitive Silfen Invitational, a two-day meet on 4/13-14.  

-Eli Waxler '19