Track and field dominates at weekend invitationals
Men and women’s teams will travel to Smith College for NEWMAC championships
Tiffany Ira Huang—The Tech
This past weekend the MIT track and field team was split between two invitational meets. Although the meets were non-scoring, MIT posted some solid performances as the team prepares for the championship season.
A small group of distance athletes traveled to Princeton University to run with solid Division I competition. Kyle J. Hannon ‘13 rose to the occasion in the 1500 m with a time of 3:50.73 which is the 6th best mark in Division III this year. Two freshman records fell at Princeton with Samuel G. Parker ‘15 finishing the 800 m in a time of 1:54.00 and Elaine D. McVay ‘15 running a 17:15.42 in the 5000 m.
The rest of the team remained at home for MIT’s coed invite. The invite brought teams from all over New England, including Tufts, Harvard, and Brown. On the women’s side, more rookie records fell with Preethi Vaidyanathan ‘15 jumping 5’3’’ to take second in the high jump, and Cindy Huang taking second in the 800 m with a time of 2:16.47.
On the track, seniors Jamie L. Simmons and Portia M. Jones took first and second in the 400m hurdles. Posting times of 61.89 and 62.12, they are currently ranked second and third in Division III. Tilly Taylor ‘15 continued to dominate in the javelin throw, winning the event. Teammates Ellen B. Liverpool ‘15, Christine E. Labaza ‘14, and Ashley R. Wheeler ‘15 all had impressive performances in the throwing events, each setting personal bests. In the jumping events, Michelle O. Johnson ‘15 took home a win in the triple jump with a mark of 36’7.35”, while Lauren B. Kuntz ‘13 won the pole vault in a jump off clearing 12’1.5”.
On the men’s side, Daniel E. Harper ‘12 had a tremendous showing in the 10,000 m. Winning the event with a time of 30:30.57, Harper now has the 15th best time in Division III this season. In the 800 m, Patrick K. Marx ‘13 led the engineers with a winning time of 1:54.24, followed by Gilbert O’Neill and Jared M. Forman ‘13 who took 7th and 9th.
In the field events, Chinedum K. Umachi ‘12 won the hammer throw and took third in discus. The Tech athletes had a strong showing in the pole vault with Nathan E. Peterson ‘12, Yida Gao ‘13, and Colin P. Hong ‘15 taking second, third, and fourth in the event. In the triple jump, Jackson O. Wirekoh ‘13 won the event with a jump of 45’1.75”, followed by teammate Sheldon N. Trotman ‘15 who took second.
This weekend, both teams will travel to Smith College for the NEWMAC championships to defend their titles.