COMPLETE RESULTS
Middletown, CT––The Williams men's track and field team returned from their 5 week hiatus from competition to claim their 29th straight Little Three Championship title against rivals Amherst and Wesleyan. The Ephs were aided by strong performances across the board, scoring 153 points to Amherst's 101 and Wesleyan's 87.
"With fewer opponents than a typical meet, this was a good opportunity for our athletes to compete in events that are not their primary event. It's a good way to see the parts that will eventually assemble for each athlete, and for the team as a whole," said Eph head coach Ethan Barron.
The day started with the field events, where a strong crew of throwers won Williams the early lead. Sophomore James Heinl '19 won the weight throw with a personal best 14.04m mark. Four Ephs followed him in succession: captain Chris Lyons '17, Liam Pembroke '18, Magnus Herweyer '20, and Julian Smedley '19. In the shot put, first-year Herweyer impressed, throwing his own personal best of 15.23m, despite only recording one legal mark. His throw was nearly 2 meters ahead of the next best, thrown by Lyons.
The running events began with a strong performance from captain Peter Hale '17, who ran almost unopposed after the first curve, front-running a personal best of 4:19.22 in the mile. He was followed by Liam Simpson '18, Austin Anderson '19, and Griffin Colaizzi '18. All four men qualified for Division III New Englands with their marks, and Hale also qualified for All New Englands.
In the 60 meter dash, Jeremy Thaller '19 won easily, PRing by .01 with a time of 7.09. He also is now eligible to compete at Division III New Englands.
In the 600 meter run, first-year Kevin LaFleche '20 won with a ferocious final kick over teammate Alex Cowen, '18, running 1:24.59. His time also qualifies him for Division III New Englands. In a 1000 meter race filled with several attempted breakaways, Lucas Elek's '18 late surge proved decisive, as he won in 2:35.28 over Jacob Kahrs '19, who recorded a time of 2:36.17. Both men qualified for Division III New Englands.
The Ephs also proved successful in the jumps. Ian Kagame '19 won for the second straight year with a jump of 1.88 meters, qualifying for Division III New Englands. In the long jump, Connor Harris '18, captain Tobias Muellers '18 and Amyhr Barber '20 finished 1st, 2nd, and 3rd with respective marks of 6.67m, 6.54m, and 6.36m. All three men qualified for Division III New Englands with their marks.
Williams closed out the day with three straight victories on the track. In the 3000, captain David Folsom '17 ran a patient race, tracking a Wesleyan athlete for the first 2 kilometers before surging by him, winning in 8:53.96. Folsom's time qualifies him for Division III New Englands. In the 4x800, a strong relay squad of Hale, Colaizzi, Simpson, and Cowen got out to an early lead over Wesleyan and never relinquished it, running 8:13.16. And in the 4x400, Tom Riley '18, Elek, LaFleche, and Kahrs employed similar tactics, holding off Wesleyan with a time of 3:31.59.
"We're a different team from last year's [NESCAC champion team], and we're a little less top heavy," stated Ethan Barron. "But I think this group, with much more to prove, is a little hungrier, and that showed today with our eagerness to compete. We didn't perform today with peak intensity, technique, or fitness, but at this point in the season, that's a good thing. We'll build on this performance, and how well we do in the future is entirely up to us,"
The Ephs will return to competition next Saturday, January 21, at the Smith Invitational hosted by Smith College.
