Sports
Track and Field teams compete at Bowdoin in NESCAC Championships
By Patrick Malin ’18
May 4, 2017
Tags sports
The men’s and women’s track and field teams headed North this past weekend to compete at the NESCAC Track and Field Championships at Bowdoin in Brunswick, ME. The men’s team finished in 8th place at the scoring meet, while the women came in 11th. Eli Saucier ’18 and Cat Berry ’19 led the men’s and women’s teams respectively as the two squads prepare for this weekend’s NYSCTC Championships.
Jack Pierce ’17 kicked off the NESCAC Championships with a record-breaking performance in the longest race of the day, the 10 kilometer run. Pierce burned down the backstretch on the final of his 25 laps, pressing for the school record held by Adam Pfander ’16. Pierce’s last push was enough to capture the record in 31:06.24. “Since I was a freshmen I wanted to be on the record board,” Pierce said. “To have broken [the 10k record] in my only attempt this spring was extremely satisfying, and to have broken it by less than a second is just plain lucky. I’d like to think that my NESCACS performance was a product of this rise in dedication and commitment on the parts of many athletes in the program, not just my own,” Pierce added.
Saucier picked up 10 points for the men’s team and earned the title “NESCAC Champion” for his first place finish in the 200-meter dash. Saucier finished the race in 22.03 seconds, beating out the second place finisher by just two hundredths of a second. The Douglasville, GA native added to his individual point total in the 400-meter dash, finishing in fifth place with a time of 49.22 seconds. Saucier is having a dominant season in the sprints for Hamilton all season, setting school records in the 100, 200 and 400-meter runs. Heading into the NYSCTC Championships, Saucier holds the fastest time in the state for the 200, the second fastest in the 100 and the third fastest in the 400. The men’s team will rely on Saucier’s scoring again this weekend against the top in-state competition.
Saucier capped off his day by running the second leg of the four by 100-meter relay, a team consisting sprinters Tom Bisko ’18, Ryan Sedwick ’19 and Sam Robinson ’20. The Continentals’ relay team finished in fifth place, setting a season best time of 42.94 seconds. The four by 400-meter relay team took ninth place in the final event of the day.
Preston DeLaurentis ’18 picked up points for the Continentals in the field. In his lone event of the day, DeLaurentis set a personal record in the triple jump, leaping 14.01 meters. DeLaurentis’s season best performance earned him fourth place in the conference.
Heading into the NYSCTC state meet, Hamilton is in a prime position to put up impressive times and rack up a substantial supply of team points. In addition to Saucier’s places atop the NYSCTC standings, Sedwick has the fourth best time in the 100-meter dash, and Bryce Murdick ’20 is the seventh seed in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. DeLaurentis has the fifth best triple jump in the state, while first-year thrower Ty Kunzman enters the state meet with the sixth best discus throw in the conference. The Continentals will assemble relay teams in the four by 100, 400 and 800. “We’ve been improving every week, and we’d like to end the season on a high note at states this weekend,” Sedwick said.
Berry had an excellent NESCAC meet for the women’s team on Saturday, picking up two personal bests and shattering yet another school record. As a transfer student from Colgate, Berry has re-written the women’s track record book in her first year competing for the Continentals. In the winter indoor season, Berry set records in the 60, 100 and 400-meter dashes, and has continued her excellent year with three school records in the spring outdoor season. Berry thrived in the first meet of championship season by setting a new program record in the 200-meter dash, finishing in second place with a time of 25.11 seconds. Berry also scored a second place finish in the 100-meter dash, crossing the finish line in a blazing 12.33 seconds. “I really want to drop time in my 200 and place as high as possible in the 100,” said Berry. “With two PRs at NESCACS I couldn’t have asked for much more.”
In the field, the Hamilton women’s team picked up another second place finish in the hammer throw. Emily Hull ’18 threw the hammer 45.28 meters to capture second and guarantee eight points towards the team score. Hanna Jerome ’18 rounded out the point scorers on the women’s side, finishing eighth in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:16.71.
The women’s team is looking to continue a strong spring season this weekend and is poised to put up great performances in Rochester, NY at St. John Fisher. Berry holds the top time in the state for the 100-meter dash, as well as the second best time in the 200. The Continentals have two runners seeded in the top-nine in the NYSCTC in the 800-meter run in Jerome and Mary Lundin ’19. Kyandreia Jones ’19 comes into the state meet with the eighth best time in the 100-meter hurdles. Emily Steates ’19 and Leigh Gelotte ’19 hope to hit personal record marks in the jumps, while Hull will seek to improve her school record distance in the hammer throw, where she currently owns the sixth best throw in the NYSCTC.
The track and field teams wilI use the NYSCTC to improve this season’s marks and aim to hit qualifying marks for the ECAC Championship that will take place on May 17 and 18 at Westfield State University.
Berry and Pierce both attribute this season’s success to the guidance of coaches Brett and Ellen Hull, as well as the several specific event coaches. Berry said, “I couldn’t have asked for better coaches. They are great at knowing their athletes’ strengths and weaknesses and working to improve their runners.” Pierce commented, “I feel very grateful towards my coaches Steve Bellona and Brett Hull. Their contributions to the program cannot be underestimated.”
“I think that the number of broken records this season alone from Saucier and Berry are indicative of an upswing in the dedication of Hamilton Cross Country/Track and Field athletes in general,” Pierce said. Berry added, “though it’s an individual sport, the track team has unmatched chemistry.”