The Mammoths enjoyed a fantastic weekend competing at the D3 New England Championships! The women placed third as a team, tying the program's highest finish ever at the meet, and the men placed sixth as a team!
The meet was split by gender, as the women competed at Colby and the men competed at Middlebury. The two-day meet kicked off on Friday with the multi-events, with the women competing in the pentathlon and the men starting competition in the heptathlon. Also on Friday was the distance medley relay, pole vault and 5k, and all of the other events were contested on Saturday.
Friday
Alex Robin pole vaulting (photo taken by Elijah Sleasman)
Friday's action kicked off with the pentathlon, where Annelise Romero and Trintje Nydam placed fourth and eighth, respectively, starting off the scoring for the Mammoths! They both competed well in all five events in the pentathlon, the 60 meter hurdles, high jump, shot put, long jump and 800!
Over at Middlebury for the start of the heptathlon, Jack Trent and Max Spelke had a nice start to the competition, where they both ran great in the 60 meter dash, as Jack tied his 60 personal best with his time of 7.48 seconds and Max Spelke was only 0.04 seconds off his best, running a time of 7.57 seconds! Jack later jumped a personal best in the long jump with a jump of 6.28 meters (20' 7.25"), won the shot put with a throw of 12.29 meters (40' 4") and set a six centimeter personal best in the high jump with a jump of 1.78 meters (5' 10")! After Day 1, Jack and Max sat in third and tenth place, respectively.
In the pole vault, Jordan Hecker tied for eighth place, clearing 3.31 meters (10' 10.25") and Mia Bawendi set a personal best, clearing 3.16 meters (10' 4.25")! Eve Giancarlo and Payton Sorensen also jumped well, as Eve also cleared 3.16 meters (10' 4.25") and Payton Cleared 3.01 meters (9' 10.5") to place 19th and 24th, respectively.
Julia Schor running the DMR at a meet earlier this season
The distance medley relay was the first track event on Friday, and the Mammoths had strong relays for both the men and women toe the line!
At Colby, Margo Pedersen led off for the Mammoths on the 1200 leg and ran a strong leg to hand off in sixth place to Casie Eifrig for the 400 leg. Casie moved the Mammoths up to fifth place and handed off to Ava Zielinski, who held that position on the 800 leg. Julia Schor ran a fantastic 1600 leg, bringing the Mammoths across the line in third place!
At Middlebury, Braedon Fiume led off for the Mammoths on the 1200 leg, handing off to Charlie Clary in a great position. Charlie ran a strong 400 leg and handed the baton to Jack O'Hara, who ran incredibly hard to hand off to Owen Daily in fifth place. Owen ran a nice 1600 leg, separating himself from two competitors half way into his leg and locked up fifth place in the heat for the Mammoths, which ended up placing the Mammoths sixth overall.
The last event on Friday was the 5,000 meter run, and Sophie Wolmer and Mary Kate McGranahan toed the line for the Mammoths. Sophie ran a great race in the deep field and came away with a fourth place finish and season best with her time of 17:20! Mary Kate ran great too, running a time of 18:24 to place 16th in the deep field!
Saturday
Jack Trent pole vaulting
Action resumed on Saturday with day two of the heptathlon. Jack Trent and Max Spelke both competed well in the 60 hurdles, pole vault and 1,000, as they both ran great races in the 60 hurdles and Jack set a personal best in the 1,000 meter run with his time of 2:49! Jack placed third in the heptathlon with his personal best score of 4637 points and Max placed tenth in his first ever D3 New England Championship meet!
Muffie Mazambani competing in the long jump
The first field event of the day was the long jump, and the men's and women's long jumpers enjoyed great days!
In the women's long jump, Eliza Cardwell soared to 5.58 meters (18' 3.75") on her first attempt to place second! Muffie Mazambani placed fourth with her personal best jump of 5.39 meters (17' 8.25")! On her third attempt, Sam Tichelaar jumped 5.03 meters (16' 6") to place fifteenth.
In the men's long jump, Chris Gong soared to 6.88 meters (22' 7") on his first attempt to place third for a huge season best jump!
In the men's triple jump, Kelechi Eziri jumped a huge season best jump of 14.05 meters (46' 1.25") to place third! In the women's triple jump, Muffie placed fifth with a personal best jump of 11.31 meters (37' 1.25")! The triple jump was Eliza's third event of the day and she jumped 10.74 meters (35' 3") to place 15th in the deep field.
Henry Buren running the 60 meter dash
Henry Buren had a spectacular day at Middlebury, first running a season best time of 7.01 seconds in the preliminary round of the 60 meter dash to move onto the final with the fifth-fastest time from the preliminary round. Then in the final, Henry leveled up and ran a personal best time of 6.94 seconds to place third! Henry came back and ran a stellar race in the 200, placing fourth in a season best time of 22.38 seconds, capping off a fantastic day for the senior!
Eliza Cardwell en route to winning the 60 hurdles
Eliza Cardwell continued her amazing day after placing second in the long jump, running the fastest time in the preliminary round of the 60 meter hurdles with a personal best time of 8.87 seconds to move on to the final! Eliza kicked it up a notch in the final, running a time of 8.73 seconds to win the race and become the New England Champion! Eliza set the school record with her win and her time currently ranks her sixth nationally in Division 3!
In the 60 meter hurdles preliminary round, Trintje Nydam and Anaya Thomas both ran hard and placed 20th and 21st, respectively.
Owen Daily (10) and Will Merhige (5) running the mile
The next event on the track was the mile, and Owen Daily won the "slower" of the two heats using a great kick with two laps to go to win his heat in a time of 4:21, which placed him eighth overall! In the same heat as Owen, Alex Rich and Will Merhige both closed hard after a slower first half of the race to run times of 4:24 and 4:25, respectively! In the next heat of the mile, Nick Edwards-Levin ran hard and finished in a time of 4:26.
Julia Zacher high jumping
In the women's high jump, Julia Zacher cleared 1.59 meters (5' 2.5") on her second attempt at that height to place sixth!
In the men's high jump, Cam Heafitz placed sixth, clearing 1.91 meters (6' 3.25") on his first attempt at that height! Gabe Dos Santos cleared 1.86 meters (6' 1.25") to place ninth!
Katie Lingen (1) running the 600
The next event on the track was the 400 and Juanita Jaramillo ran a great race, placing second in her heat to place seventh overall with her time of 59.53 seconds! In a different heat, Anna Madden ran a time of 59.62 seconds to place tenth!
In the women's 600, Katie Lingen ran a great race to place fourth in a personal best time of 1:37! With her time, Katie is now third all-time at Amherst in the event! The Mammoths flexed their depth in the event as Ava Tillman placed ninth in a personal best time of 1:40 and Nicole Barbaro ran a competitive race to place 13th in a time of 1:41!
In the men's 600, Kolya Markov-Riss competed hard in a very competitive and tightly packed heat, placing fourth in a time of 1:23! Charlie Clary placed second in his heat and 12th overall in a time of 1:25!
Gent Malushaga (left) and Aydin Williams (3 on the right) running the 1,000
In the women's 800, Julia Schor ran hard from the gun, keeping the race leaders in her sight. Julia fought hard and placed fourth with a season best time of 2:18! In the same heat, Ava Zielinski held her position and placed sixth in a time of 2:21! Sierra Donovan ran in the same heat and ran hard, crossing the finish line in a time of 2:33.
In the men's 800, Wilson Spurrell competed well in a deep field and came away with a seventh place finish and personal best time of 1:55!
The men's 1,000 was a very exciting race, with Gent Malushaga pulling away for the victory in his heat which ended up placing him fourth overall in a personal best time of 2:33! In the same heat, Aydin Williams ran well too, placing third in his heat and ninth overall in a fantastic season best time of 2:35! In a different heat, Bobby Innes-Gold used a speedy last lap to finish second in his heat in a time of 2:38 and Ian Dopp ran hard in only his second 1,000 race ever, running a time of 2:43!
Margo Pedersen competed in the women's 1,000 and placed tenth with a time of 3:06, a nice race for the first-year!
Sidnie Kulik (4) and Sophie Wolmer (6) running the 3,000
The women's 3,000 was a great race for the Mammoths, as all three Mammoths had great races! Sidnie Kulik placed second in a stellar race, pulling away from a competitor in the final two laps to lock up second place in a personal best time of 9:54! Sophie Wolmer ran a great race too, running strong in the last few laps to place fourth in a great season best time of 10:02! In a different heat, Sophia Price ran a personal best, finishing with a strong last lap and a time of 10:36, placing 19th in the strong field!
Theo Dassin led the Mammoths in the men's 3,000, making a move with four laps left in the race to push the pace of the race. Theo finished fourth in his heat in a time of 8:45, just ahead of Oliver Spiva who finished fifth in the heat in a time of 8:47 and Keon Mazdisnian placed eighth in the heat in a time of 9:00.
Anna Madden leading off the 4x400 relay
The women ended the day on a high note, with the women's 4x400 winning the race, becoming New England Champions! Anna Madden led off the relay, handing off to Juanita Jaramillo within one meter of the race leaders. Juanita ran a fantastic leg and handed off to Casie Eifrig in the lead, which Casie extended and handed off to Katie Lingen.
Katie brought the Mammoths across the finish line, winning in a time of 3:57!
Over at the men's meet, the final event of the day was the 4x800 relay where the squad of Braedon Fiume, Jack O'Hara, Alex Rich and Wilson Spurrell combined to place sixth in a time of 8:04!
The Mammoths had a great time competing this weekend and we are so proud of the Mammoths for competing so well and for each other! Thanks to everyone who cheered us on from afar and at Colby and Middlebury!
NEXT UP for the Mammoths is the Tufts National Qualifying Meet on Saturday, March 5th.