Sports
Track and field teams stay close to home with three meets at Utica
By Robert Fitzgerald ’20
February 2, 2017
Tags sports
The Hamilton College men’s and women’s track teams began their indoor season on Dec. 3 at the first Utica College Pioneer Invitational. In this meet, the Continentals’ men finished in fourth place amongst six teams and the women finished in fifth. Eli Saucier ’18 highlighted the men’s individual performances with victories in the 60-and 200-meter dashes. The Hamilton men also swept the top three spots in the 5000-meter, with Jack Pierce ’17 leading the pack and setting a track record of 15:02.41, Henry Whipple ’18 finishing second and Peter Deweirdt ’18 rounding out the top three. For the women, Cat Berry ’19 was victorious in the 300-meter dash with a program record time of 43.44 seconds, while Kyandreia Jones ’19 posted a record breaking time in the 60-meter hurdles of 10.03 seconds, good enough for third place in the race.
After this first meet, the Continentals were off from competition through the holidays and competed in their second meet, the second Pioneer Invitational also at Utica College, on Jan. 14. Pierce led the men’s team with a victory in the 3000-meter race and a personal-best time of 8:45.43, which was also a facility record. Saucier finished second in the 60 with a career-best time of 7.03 and third in the 200. Ryan Sedwick ’19 placed eighth and 11th, in the 60 and 200 respectively. On the women’s side, Hannah Jerome ’18 paced the Continentals with a victory in the 1000-meter. The Continentals placed three women in the top 10 in the 800, with Mary Lundin ’19, Mattie Seamans ’18, and Michaela Guinee ’18 finishing third, fifth and ninth. In the 3000-meter, Hamilton took third and fourth with Courtney Brunet ’20 and Lindsay Heyer ’17. Jones and Caitlin Anthony ’18 each placed sixth in their respective events, the 60-meter hurdles and the mile.
The following Saturday, Hamilton competed again, this time hosting teams at the Margaret Bundy Scott Field House for the Hamilton Invitational. Saucier had a big day, winning twice, in the 200-and 400-meter dashes. Saucier’s football teammate, Preston DeLaurentis ’18, was victorious in the triple jump while also finishing with the second-best long jump. Other top male performers include the 1600-meter relay team of Matthew McCarron ’17, Christopher Albino ’20, Saucier and Jake Bolster ’19 finished in second place. Grant Whitney ’17 was the runner-up in the 1000, Christopher Skeldon ’20 finished third in the 5000 and Frank Zuroski ’20 was fourth in the 3000. The women’s team captured five wins on the day, with Seamans winning the 500, Jerome the 800, Anthony the mile, Jones the 60-meter hurdles and Emily Hull ’18 in the 20-pound weight throw. Other competitors came close to the top spot: Berry was the runner-up in the 200 and took third in the 400, Emily Steates ’19 was second in the triple jump and third in the long jump, Leigh Gelotte ’19 finished third in the high jump and Heyer was second in the 3000. Two Hamilton relay teams also claimed second place: Berry, Caitlin McHugh ’20, Charlotte Freed ’20 and Wilhelgyne Rose ’19 in the 800 and Anthony, Courtney Brunet ’20, Erica Seff ’20, and Anaidys Uribe ’19 in the 3200.
This past Saturday, Jan. 28, the track team returned to Utica for the third Pioneer Invitational. Pierce broke his own facility record, winning the 3,000-meter race in 8:45.71. Pierce’s performance certainly headlined the Continentals’ efforts Saturday, but there were plenty of other key moments from the meet. Saucier posted two top-three finishes. With a time of 7.06, he placed third in the 60-meter dash. In the 200-meter dash, Saucier took second, finishing in 22.40. Not only was this his personal best for the event, but the finish also qualified him for the Eastern College Athletic Conference Championships. He also competed in the 1,600-meter relay alongside McCarron, Whitney and Albino. However, the quartet narrowly missed the topthree, finishing fourth with a time of 3:30.73. To round out the male top-three finishes, Bryce Murdick ’20 finished second in the 5,000-meter race (15:58.01) and DeLaurentis finished third in the triple jump (13.53 meters).
On the women’s side, Berry was extremely successful throughout the day, finishing second in the 400-meter dash (1:01.31) and third in the 200-meter dash. Clocking in at 26.60, Berry was able to qualify for the ECAC Indoor Championships in March. However, Berry wasn’t the only female Continental to qualify for the ECAC Championships that day. In a third-place finish, Lundin recorded a 2:23.01 time in the 800-meter run. Likewise, Michelle Fish ’17 finished third in the 1,000-meter run with a time of 3:11.62. Both of these women have their spots set in stone for the Championships later this year.
Next Saturday, the Hamilton track teams will compete in the Ithaca College Bomber Invitational.