Amherst Spring Fling

Jordan Hecker clearing a bar in the pole vault

The first event of the day was the women's pole vault, which was held indoors in the cage. Eve Giancarlo set a school record in the pole vault, matching Jordan Hecker's school record set last weekend, as Eve cleared 3.40 meters (11' 1.75")! Eve placed second in the strong field and Jordan placed fifth, cleared 3.25 meters (10’ 8”). Mia Bawendi also cleared the same height, placing sixth! Payton Sorensen jumped well, clearing 2.95 meters (9’ 8”), Bridget Cassata cleared 2.50 meters (8’ 2.5”) and in her first time ever pole vaulting in competition, Muffie Mazambani cleared 2.35 meters (7’ 8.5”)!

The men's pole vault was an All-Amherst affair, as Troy Colleran won by clearing 4.45 meters (14' 7.25"), Jack Trent placed second clearing 3.25 meters (10' 8") and Max Spelke cleared 3.10 meters (10' 2").

The high jump was also held inside in the cage, and Julia Zacher won with a jump of 1.67 meters (5' 5.75")! Annelise Romero set a personal best, jumping 1.52 meters (4' 11.75") to finish second! Anaya Thomas cleared 1.47 meters (4' 9.75") during her busy day over at the track, cage and long jump runway. In the men's high jump, Gabe Dos Santos tied for first with two other competitors, clearing 1.85 meters (6' 0.75") on his first attempt! Alex Robin competed in the high jump for the first time in college and cleared 1.80 meters (5' 10.75") and Max Spelke cleared 1.60 meters (5' 3"), adding to his day of competition in the cage.

Matt Gelin running the third leg of the men's 4x100 relay

The first event on the track of the day was the 3,000 meter steeplechase. Alex Rich competed in the steeplechase for the first time and used a decisive move four laps into the race to bring him to victory, winning in a time of 10:30! Running against competition for the first time this season, Mary Kate McGranahan rose to the occasion, winning the women's race in a personal best time of 11:29, responding to her competition at every opportunity! Claire Callon and Sophia Price both competed in their first steeplechase races ever, and the two competed well! Claire finished fourth in a time of 11:54, and Sophia placed seventh in a time of 12:40.

In the first time that Amherst has competed in the 4x100 relay since the 2019 season, the relay team of Ben Bell, Henry Buren, Matt Gelin and Theo Woodward announced their arrival, winning the race in a time of 41.18 seconds! They demolished the previous school record, which was a time of 42.43 seconds, set in 1970!

The women's 4x100 relay of Amerley Lokko, Sam Tichelaar, Muffie Mazambani and Julia Zacher teamed up to place fourth in a time of 49.79 seconds, a solid season opener!

Sam Tichelaar long jumping

Over on the long jump runways, Kelechi Eziri led the way for the Mammoths, winning with a personal best jump of 6.80 meters (22' 3.75")! Adrian Friedman placed fifth, jumping 6.35 meters (20' 10"). In the women's long jump, Sam Tichelaar had her second best jump ever, jumping 5.28 meters (17' 4") to place second! Annelise Romero set a personal best, jumping 4.96 meters (16' 3.25") and Trintje Nydam jumped 4.68 meters (15' 4.25"). 

Later in the meet in the triple jump, Muffie Mazambani capped off her busy day by winning with a jump of 10.91 meters (35' 9.5")! In Anaya Thomas' third event of the day, she jumped 10.57 meters (34' 8.25") to place fourth! In the men's triple jump in windy conditions, Gabe Dos Santos won with a jump of 13.11 meters (43' 0.25")! 

(L-R) Sidnie Kulik and Sophie Wolmer leading the women's 1500

Gent Malushaga led the way in the men’s 1500 for the Mammoths, pushing the pace to finish third in a time of 4:03! In the same heat, Aydin Williams competed well in the field, placing sixth in a time of 4:08 and Ian Dopp ran a nice season opening race, running a time of 4:13. In the next heat, Daniel Martin finished third in his heat in a time of 4:21.

With the first heat of the women’s 1500 going out in a tight pack, Sidnie Kulik and Sophie Wolmer led the early laps together. Sidnie made a decisive move with about 300 meters to go, powering to the win in a time of 4:41! Sophie closed hard and set a personal best in a time of 4:45, placing fourth! In the next heat of the 1500, Maggie Drew and Gigi Chrappa both closed hard, running times of 5:12 and 5:15, respectively. Then just as the third heat of the women’s 1500 was stepping to the line, thunder rumbled in the distance, halting the meet. After more than a 30-minute rain delay, Nora Bannon finally stepped to the line, putting herself in a great position from the gun. Nora fought hard and finished third in a tight heat, running a time of 5:18.

Eliza Cardwell en route to winning the 100 Hurdles

Next on the track was the men's 110 hurdles. In his second 110 hurdles race ever, Jack Trent ran a great race, running a time of 15.68 seconds to place second! Troy Colleran placed third in a strong race, running a time of 15.92 seconds and in Alton Machen's first time running over 42" hurdles, he had a great debut, running a time of 16.07 seconds!

In the first heat of the women's 100 hurdles, Eliza Cardwell never trailed, winning by more than one full second and in a time of 14.57 seconds, a wind-legal personal best time! The next heat was an All-Amherst heat, and Julia Zacher won in a personal best time of 15.91 seconds! Lindsay Ward ran a great race in her first ever race in an Amherst uniform, running a time of 15.98 seconds to place second in the heat! Anaya Thomas ran a season best with a time of 16.13 seconds, and Bridget Cassata and Annelise Romero ran times of 17.02 and 17.32 seconds, respectively.

Ben Wadsworth raced in the first heat of the men’s 400, placing seventh in his heat in a time of 53.86 seconds. Then while Charlie Clary waited on the starting line for the second heat of the men’s 400, thunder rumbled again, and the meet was delayed again. After more than a 30-minute delay, the meet resumed and Charlie finally raced, placing second in his heat in a tight race, running a personal best time of 52.08 seconds! Running without competition in the third heat, Zane ran a time of 56.21 seconds with no competition.

With rain coming down, Anna Madden placed second in a strong race, running a time of 58.33 seconds to place second! Right behind her, Casie Eifrig ran a fantastic race, setting a personal best in a time of 58.83 seconds! In the same heat, Juanita Jaramillo also competed well, running a time of 59.95 seconds! In the next heat, Isabelle Lobo finished second in her heat in a time of 62.51 seconds and Susannah Auderset finished second in her heat too, running a time of 64.43 seconds!

Jack Renda throwing the discus

Over in our new throwing area on and near the soccer fields, the Mammoths enjoyed a strong day in the throws!

First in the discus, David Brown won and set a personal best by three meters, a huge margin of improvement with this throw of 43.89 meters (144' 0")! Troy Colleran also set a personal best, throwing 36.77 meters (120' 8") to place sixth! Jack Renda started off his amazing day with a personal best in the discus, throwing 34.65 meters (113' 8") and Max Hoffman set a personal best, throwing 31.36 meters (102' 11")! Adding on to the personal best train Maurice Leon set a personal best throwing 31.35 meters (102' 10") and Max Spelke set a personal best too, throwing 24.14 meters (79' 2")! Hugh also had a good day in the discus, throwing 28.86 meters (94' 8"). 

Debra Thayer won the discus, throwing 34.75 meters (114' 0") on her first attempt, which is a three meter improvement, a huge distance to improve by! Bethany Martin started off her four event day with a season best, throwing 32.42 meters (106' 4").

Kevin Ryu placed second in the javelin, throwing 46.10 meters (151' 3") and Jack Renda set a personal best in the javelin with a throw of 41.53 meters (136' 3")! In the women's javelin, Carolina Andrade placed third with a throw of 31.01 meters (101' 9") and Bethany Martin placed eighth with a throw of 21.76 meters (71' 5") and in her first time throwing the javelin in competition, Payton Sorensen threw 19.75 meters (64' 9")! 

Henry Buren winning the 100 meter dash

Henry stepped onto the track again after running a leg of the 4x100 relay and won the 100 meter dash in a time of 10.90 seconds, winning by more than three-tenths of a second, a large margin in such a short race! Ben Bell, another leg of the record-setting relay, placed sixth in a time of 11.53 seconds! Marshall Richardson placed tenth in a time of 11.81 seconds, running nearly three-tenths of a seconds faster than he did last week, and Chris Chukwura placed thirteenth in a time of 12.11 seconds.

Amerley Lokko set a personal best in the 100 meter dash, running a time of 12.54 seconds to place second! Sam Tichelaar competed in her third event of the day after long jumping and running on the 4x100 relay, running a time of 13.00 seconds to place seventh. Mia Bawendi placed ninth, running a time of 13.16 seconds and Karis Lee placed twelfth, running a time of 13.31 seconds.

(L-R) Julia Schor (6) and Margo Pedersen (9) running the 800

Wilson Spurrell led the men's 800 from gun to tape and won in a time of 1:55, a great start to his season in a great race! Nick-Edwards passed several runners on the second lap and powered down the final straightaway to place fourth in a time of 1:56 and Braedon Fiume also ran a great race, placing fifth in a time of 1:57! Kolya Markov-Riss ran hard, placing seventh in a time of 1:58. In the next heat of the 800, Bobby Innes-Gold made several great moves and placed a close third in his heat in a time of 2:00! In the same heat, Luke Munch stepped down from his usual longer distance races and fought for every step to place tenth in the heat.

The women's 800 got off to a fast start, and the Mammoths in the first heat, Julia Schor, Margo Pedersen, Ava Zielinski and Sylvan Wold all looked good going into the second lap of the race. Julia and Margo ran a strong final 200, and Julia matched her personal best time, running a time of 2:16! Margo Pedersen ran a three second personal best, also running a time of 2:16! In the same heat, Ava Zielinski ran 2:20 and Sylvan Wold ran a significant personal best, finishing in a time of 2:22! Nicole Barbaro won the second heat of the 800, running her first 800 since high school, winning in a time of 2:24! Ally Deegan and Sierra Donovan both ran hard, finishing in times of 2:27 and 2:29, respectively.

Tom Ye running the 400 hurdles

After winning the 100 hurdles, Eliza Cardwell came back to win the 400 hurdles in a time of 64.7 seconds with the sun shining on the track! Ava Tillman ran another strong race, finishing in a time of 66.5 seconds and Artis Phillips set a personal best, running a time of 67.7 seconds!

Tom Ye ran a strong race, finishing third in a time of 58.3 seconds and running alone in the next heat, Max Spelke ran a time of 59.6 seconds!

In his final event of the day, Henry Buren won the 200 in a time of 22.08 seconds, winning the race by nearly half a second, a large margin in a short race. Matt Gelin continued his positive momentum from the 4x100 relay into the 200, running a time of 23.46 seconds. Anna Madden ran the 200 for the first time in more than two years and ran a personal best time of 26.35 seconds, placing second! After running the 100 hurdles and pole vaulting, Bridget ran a time of 28.31 seconds in the 200.

David Brown throwing the shot put last weekend at UMass

In the men's shot put, David Brown threw 12.56 meters (41' 2.5") to place second and Hugh Lemmon-Kishi threw 12.00 meters (39' 4.5") to place fourth! Multi-athletes Jack Trent and Troy Colleran competed in the shot put too, throwing 11.58 meters (38' 0") and 11.32 meters (37' 1.75"), respectively. Bethany Martin and Debra Thayer both threw well in the shot put field too. 

Bethany later won the hammer throw, throwing 41.07 meters (134' 9") on her first attempt! Debra Thayer set a personal best in the hammer, throwing 34.43 meters (112' 11") to place fifth! 

Ajay Sarathy en route to winning the 5,000 meter run

A large pack of Mammoths ran the men's 5k, and they stuck together in the early laps. Ajay Sarathy led the pack, winning the race in a time of 15:11, in a great effort for the senior! Keon Mazdisnian enjoyed a great race, placing second in a time of 15:12, a huge personal best for him! Theo Dassin also set a personal best, running a time of 15:16 to place third! Running his first 5k on the track ever, Will Merhige competed well and came away with a time of 15:27. Billy Massey fought hard in the final laps and finished in a time of 15:31.

Eline Laurent was the only Mammoth competing in the women's 5,000 and ran a gritty race, running most of the race alone and finished third in a personal best time of 18:51!

Casie running the lead off leg of one of the women's 4x400 relays

The Mammoths ran one men's 4x400 relay and Ian Dopp led off for the Mammoths, putting them in a great position after his leg. Running his second 400 of the day, Charlie Clary ran a strong second leg and handed off to Nick Edwards-Levin for the third leg. Nick ran a strong leg too and handed off to Braedon Fiume to anchor the relay and he brought the Mammoths home in second place in a time of 3:28!

Two women's 4x400 relays toed the line, with the "A" team of Casie Eifrig, Julia Schor, Margo Pedersen and Sam Tichelaar teaming up to run against the "B" team of Ava Tillman, Ava Zielinski, Artis Phillips and Isabelle Lobo. Casie Eifrig and Ava Tillman both ran strong opening legs, putting the two Mammoth relay teams close together for the second leg. Julia Schor and Ava Zielinski both ran hard on their leg, and on the third leg, Margo Pedersen and Artis Phillips made it a close race for the two teams. Sam Tichelaar brought the "A" team across the line in first in a time of 4:06 and Isabelle Lobo ran a very strong anchor leg, bringing the "B" team to a second place finish in a time of 4:08.