NESCAC Track & Field Championships!

Sophie Wolmer en route to winning the 10k!

Starting off the day on a high note, Sophie Wolmer shot out to the lead in the women’s 10k and never relinquished it, consistently clicking off speedy laps and extending her lead with every step. Sophie crossed the finish line in a time of 34:59, which is a huge personal best, along with a NESCAC Championship record, facility record and is ranked seventh nationally and she put 10 points on the board for the Mammoths!

Next in the men’s 10k, the squad of Ajay Sarathy, Spencer Davis and Daniel Martin toed the line. Ajay gradually moved up through the field, powering to an 11th place finish in a personal best time of 31:44 and beat a competitor just at the finish line! Spencer Davis ran a strong second half of the race and picked competitors off, placing 14th in a personal best time of 33:20! Daniel ran hard the whole race and placed 24th in the strong field.

Chris Gong long jumping

On the long jump runway, Chris Gong and Kelechi Eziri placed fourth and eighth with marks of 6.88 meters ( 22’ 7”) and 6.73 meters (22’ 1”), respectively! Collectively, they contributed six points to the Mammoths team score!

Over in the hammer throw, Bethany Martin enjoyed a fantastic day, placing fifth with a throw of 39.77 meters (130’ 5”), adding four points to the team’s tally! At the same time in the shot put, David Brown placed seventh with a throw of 12.92 meters (42’ 4.75”), putting the first points on the board for the men! Hugh Lemmon-Kishi threw well too, placing thirteenth with a throw of 11.82 meters (38’ 9.5”). On the javelin runway, Troy Colleran had a huge day, placing second with a throw of 47.75 meters (156’ 8”), earning eight points for the Mammoths!

Eliza Cardwell en route to setting the school record in the 100 hurdles

Back on the track, Eliza Cardwell ran a stellar race in the 100 hurdles prelims, running the fastest time in the field with her time of 14.23 seconds, setting a school record, NESCAC Championship record, facility record and personal best! In the same preliminary heat, Lindsay Ward ran a fantastic race, running a personal best time of 15.19 seconds, advancing her to the final! Julia Zacher, Anaya Thomas and Bridget Cassata all ran well in the preliminary round of the 100 hurdles as well, placing tenth, eleventh, and thirteenth with times of 16.15 seconds, 16.19 seconds and 16.37 seconds, respectively!

Then in the preliminary round of the men’s 110 hurdles, Alton Machen and Jack Trent both ran personal best times to advance to the final, running times of 15.25 and 15.47 seconds, respectively!

Mia Bawendi pole vaulting

On the pole vault runway, Mia Bawendi matched the school record by clearing 3.40 meters (11’ 1.75”), tying for sixth place and adding 2.5 points to the Mammoths team score! Pole vaulters Eve Giancarlo, Jordan Hecker and Payton Sorensen all competed hard in their first ever NESCAC Championship, placing eleventh, thirteenth and twenty-second, respectively, by clearing heights of 3.25 meters (10’ 8”) for Eve and Jordan and 2.95 meters (9’ 8”) for Payton.

On the high jump apron, Julia Zacher placed fourth in an incredibly deep and talented field, clearing 1.62 meters (5’ 3.75”), contributing four points to the Mammoths team score!

Mary Kate McGranahan clearing a water barrier in the steeplechase

Back on the track, Henry Buren advanced to the 100 meter dash final by winning his preliminary heat in a time of 10.92 seconds, entering the final as the third fastest entrant! Marshall matched his season best wind-legal time of 11.81 seconds, placing twenty-first.

Next up was the steeplechase, and Mary Kate McGranahan and Claire Callon both enjoyed great races! Mary Kate made some gutsy moves in the final laps of the race and placed fourth, running a personal best time of 11:12! Claire placed ninth in a personal best time of 11:41! Mary Kate added five more points to the Mammoths team score with her fourth place finish!

Muffie Mazambani in the long jump

Competing in her second of four events for the day, Eliza Cardwell placed fourth in the long jump with a jump of 5.56 meters (18’ 3”)! Muffie Mazambani jumped a huge personal best, jumping 5.55 meters (18’ 2.5”), placing fifth! The two of them added nine points to the Mammoths team score! Sam Tichelaar jumped well, jumping 5.21 meters (17’ 1.2”), placing thirteenth.

Over in the men’s hammer, Jack Renda enjoyed a great day, setting personal bests on three of his six attempts and placed ninth with a personal best throw of 39.90 meters (130’ 11”)!

Annelise Romero throwing the javelin

A pair of Mammoths put points on the board in the women’s javelin, where Carolina Andrade placed fourth with a throw of 32.24 meters (105’ 9”) and Annelise Romero placed fifth with a throw of 30.84 meters (101’ 2”)! The two of them contributed nine points to the Mammoths team score! In the women’s shot put, Bethany Martin placed thirteenth with a throw of 9.37 meters (30’ 9”).

Chris Gong (4), on the left, receiving the baton from Matt Gelin, on the right, in the 4x100 relay

Back on the track, the women’s 4x100 relay set the tone for the afternoon, placing fourth in a season best time of 48.95 seconds! The team of Eliza Cardwell, Sam Tichelaar, Muffie Mazambani and Anna Madden combined to earn five more points for the Mammoths team score! Next, the men’s 4x100 relay of Ben Bell, Henry Buren, Matt Gelin and Chris Gong ran out of the slower section and ran a time of 42.67 seconds, a season best time which placed them fourth overall and added five points to the Mammoths team score!

Ally Deegan, wearing the red spikes and is to the left of Julia Schor (7), running the 1500

The next event on the track was the women’s 1500, and Julia Schor ran a great race, as she worked her way up through the field and opened up a gap on the field in the third lap and powered her way to a third place finish, earning All-NESCAC honors and running a personal best time of 4:37! Julia added six points to the Mammoths team score with her third place finish! In the same heat, Ally Deegan ran an incredible race, passing four competitors in the final two laps, placing ninth in a season best time of 4:42! Running her last race as a Mammoth, Maggie Drew ran a great race and passed two competitors in the final two laps to finish twenty third!

Aydin Williams and Bobby Innes-Gold both competed well in the men’s 1500, with Aydin coming away with a seventeenth place finish in a personal best time of 4:06 and Bobby placed twenty second.

The hurdles were placed on the home stretch, ready to go for the hurdles finals. Alton Machen and Jack Trent competed hard, placing seventh and eighth with times of 15.60 and 15.75 seconds, respectively, adding three points to the Mammoths’ total!

Eliza dominated in the 100 meter hurdles final, winning in a time of 14.30 seconds, adding ten huge points to the Mammoths team score!

Camden Heafitz high jumping

Over on the high jump apron, Camden Heafitz placed fifth by clearing 1.85 meters (6' 0.75") on his first attempt and Gabe Dos Santos placed eighth, clearing the same height as Camden, but on his third attempt. Together, they combined to score five points for the Mammoths! In the pole vault, Alex Robin cleared 4.00 meters (13' 1.5"), placing fourteenth.

Henry Buren en route to winning the 100 final

There were three Mammoths on the start line of the women’s 400, and all three scored points for the Mammoths! Anna Madden placed third and earned All-NESCAC honors, tying her school record with a time of 57.36 seconds! Juanita Jaramillo placed fifth, running a time of 58.51 seconds and Casie Eifrig placed eighth, running a time of 59.16 seconds! Combined, the three of them earned eleven points towards the team score!

Next in the men’s 100 meter dash final, Henry Buren won the race in a time of 10.79 seconds and was immediately swarmed by ecstatic teammates! With his time, Henry broke his own school record!

Video of Henry's win and the team swarming him!

Wilson Spurrell ran an incredibly gutsy 800 meter race, fighting with everything he had, placing seventh in a time of 1:54, a personal best time! In a different heat, Charlie Clary placed second in his heat and ran a personal best time of 1:56! Ian Dopp placed second in his heat of the 800, running a college best time of 2:00 for the sophomore!

Ellis Phillips-Gallucci en route to winning the 400 Hurdles

Eliza Cardwell toed the line for the 400 Hurdles, her fourth event of the day. Eliza ran an incredible race, winning the 400 Hurdles in a time of 1:02, a huge personal best time! In a different heat, Ava Tillman ran a time of 1:05, placing seventh! Trintje Nydam ran in the same heat as Ava and ran a time of 1:05 as well which put her in ninth place, but she noticed that two of the hurdles in her lane were incorrectly set to the men’s 400 hurdle height, which is six inches higher than the women’s hurdle height, which is a significant difference and disadvantage to Trintje. So, Coach Funke-Harris brought the matter to the attention of the games committee, which agreed to allow her to re-run the race after the conclusion of the men’s 4x800 relay, the last track event of the day.

The men’s 400 hurdlers had to wait for awhile as the games committee discussed what to do about Trintje’s distinct disadvantage in her race. Nonetheless, the Mammoths stepped up! Ellis Phillips-Galucci won the 400 hurdles in a time of 54.42 seconds, a huge personal best time! With his win, Ellis added ten points to the Mammoths team score! In different heats, Max Spelke and Tom Ye both ran well, with Max winning his heat in a personal best time of 59.01 seconds, placing twelfth overall and Tom Ye ran a time of 57.88 seconds, placing eleventh!

Sidnie Kulik running the 5k

Competing in her third event of the day, Sam Tichelaar placed eighth in the 200 in a huge personal best time of 25.86 seconds, adding one point to the team score! Henry Buren ran a great race in the 200, placing second and earning All-NESCAC honors with his time of 21.85 seconds! Ben Bell competed in his first 200 of the season and placed thirteenth, running a time of 22.85 seconds! Matt Gelin competed well and placed twentieth in a time of 23.31 seconds!

In the women's 5k, Sidnie Kulik placed fourth in the strong field, earning five points for the team! Running her last race in an Amherst uniform, Eline Laurent competed well and placed fifteenth in a time of 18:48.

In the men's 5k, Theo Dassin ran a strong race, moving up throughout the field as the race progressed and placed thirteenth in a time of 15:18! Billy Massey ran his last race as a Mammoth and used a fast final two laps to place fifteenth in a time of 15:26. Luke Munch competed hard and placed twenty-seventh.

Kelechi Eziri long jumping earlier in the meet

Kelechi Eziri placed second in the triple jump with a jump of 14.28 meters (46' 10.5"), earning eight points for the Mammoths! In the women's triple jump, Muffie Mazambani placed ninth, jumping a season best of 11.21 meters (36' 9.5") in her third event of the day! Anaya Thomas and Annelise Romero placed eleventh and seventeeth with jumps of 11.10 meters (36' 5") and 10.55 meters (34' 7.5"), respectively in the second event of the day for both of them. Anaya's jump is a personal best for her!

In the men's discus, David Brown scored in his second event of the day, placing fifth in the discus with a throw of 38.75 meters (127' 1"), earning four points for the team! Bethany Martin also scored in her second event of the day, placing seventh in the women's discus with a throw of 33.04 meters (108' 5"), earning two points for the team! Hugh Lemmon-Kishi and Troy Colleran placed eleventh and twelfth in the men's discus, respectively, throwing marks of 34.99 meters (114' 9") and 34.78 meters (114' 1"). 

Sam Tichelaar, on the left, passing the baton in the 4x400 relay to Casie Eifrig, on the right

With just relays and Trintje's 400 Hurdles re run left in the meet, the energy on the track was incredibly high. First up was the women's 4x400 relay, where Anna Madden, running her third event of the day, led off in a stellar lead off leg, opening up a lead on the field. Juanita Jaramillo ran an incredible second leg, extending the lead. Juanita handed off to Sam Tichelaar, who on her third event of the day ran an amazing third leg. Sam handed the baton to Casie Eifrig, who ran the fastest 400 of her life to bring the Mammoths home in second place! Their combined efforts earned the Mammoths eight points!

The men's 4x400 ran out of the slower heat, making it more difficult to score points with limited competition. Matt Gelin stepped up to the challenge and in his third event of the day and first 400 of the season, he led off the relay and put the Mammoths in a great position. Charlie Clary, coming off a personal best in the 800 earlier in the meet, ran a speedy second leg, putting the Mammoths just narrowly ahead of another team at the handoff. Ian Dopp, running his second race of the day after a strong race in the 800, carried the momentum from the strong handoff to his leg, where he put the competing teams far behind him. Ian handed off to Tom Ye, who was also competing in his second race of the day after a solid race in the 400 hurdles, and Tom brought the Mammoths across the line in a time of 3:26, which held on to place eighth, scoring one point for the Mammoths!

Jack O'Hara en route to anchoring the winning 4x800 relay

Next on the track was the women's 4x800 relay. Ally Deegan ran a fantastic lead off leg for the Mammoths, coming back after a great race in the 1500 to put the Mammoths in third place at the handoff. Ally handed off to Ava Zielinski, who made a great and gutsy move on the second lap of her leg of the 4x800, putting the Mammoths in fourth place, in touch with the race leaders. Sylvan Wold carried the momentum from her teammates, using a great move with 200 meters to go to put the Mammoths in second as she handed off to Julia Schor, coming off a fantastic race in the 1500. Julia ran a gutsy anchor leg of the relay, running against several very strong competitors and brought the Mammoths home in fourth place in a time of 9:23, earning five points for the Mammoths!

The men's 4x800 relay toed the line with fresh legs, as each competing athlete only ran the 4x800 relay. Kolya Markov-Riss led off for the Mammoths, and while bumped into by a competitor on the closing stretch, he handed off to teammate Braedon Fiume in third place. Braedon ran a great leg, moving the Mammoths into second place, just barely off the race leaders. Nick Edwards-Levin ran a competitive third leg of the relay, keeping the Mammoths in second place. Jack O'Hara got the baton in second with third place right on his heels, and over the course of his relay leg, he gained on the race leaders and put himself further ahead of the third place team. As the race leader's anchor leg tied up with 100 meters to go and unfortunately fell to the ground just meters from the finish line, Jack sailed to the finish line, winning the race in a time of 7:47, adding ten points to the Mammoths team score!

Then in the final race of the day, Trintje Nydam was the lone athlete affected by the hurdles being placed at the wrong hurdle height in the 400 Hurdles to compete in the re-run. Running two 400 hurdles races in one day, with the second one being solo, is an incredibly difficult task. Trintje rose to the occasion and by herself, she ran a time of 1:05.83 seconds, improving upon her time from earlier that day, which placed her eighth, earning one point for the Mammoths!

Video of Trintje Nydam's 400 Hurdles Re-Run