COMPLETE RESULTS
Medford, MA-The Williams men's track and field team competed at the Tufts Final Qualifier meet today in the final meet before NCAA Indoor Championships. This meet served as an opportunity for some Ephs to try to notch some personal bests before turning their attention to the spring, while others were attempting to set qualifying marks for NCAAs (top 15 times in the nation for individuals, or 12 for relays).
The meet started with a bang. In the Distance Medley Relay, a team of Peter Kirgis '20, Eliot Fong '19, Tristan Colaizzi '20, and co-captain David Folsom '17 were attempting to qualify for nationals, shooting for a time of around 10:02. Kirgis got things started with a very strong 3:05 1200 leg, while Fong kept the momentum going with a 50 second 400. Colaizzi ran just under 1:55 for his 800 leg, handing off to Folsom with 5:50 elapsed on the clock. Folsom, whose personal best mile of 4:16 came on the banked BU track, needed to run faster than 4:12 on the flat Tufts track to qualify the team. Although it was a very tall order, Folsom ran the race of his life, running his leg in just under 4:10, finishing in 3rd with a final time of 10:00.22. The time is the 8th best in the nation, easily qualifying for NCAAs.
Following the DMR on the track was Jeremy Thaller '19, who ran the 60-meter dash, recording the fastest prelim time of 7.07 seconds. Although he did not compete in the finals as a precaution to avoid injury, Thaller finishes the season as one of the NESCAC's most improved short sprinters, and should be highly competitive in the 100-meter dash come outdoor.
After Thaller, first-years Kevin LaFleche '20 and Nick Gannon '20 ran the 800, hoping to finish their season with personal bests. Although both competed well in their races, neither were quite able to run to their potential, finishing in times of 1:57.63 and 1:59.63 respectively.
Away from the track, the Ephs excelled today. In the long jump, Christian Holway '19 finished 2nd with a mark of 6.76m. Just behind him in 3rd, Connor Harris jumped 6.72m. First-year Amyhr Barber '20 had the best personal performance of the three of them, jumping to a personal best 6.63m, finishing 6th. All three are poised to score significant points for the Ephs this outdoor season.
In the high jump, Ian Outhwaite '17 continued his comeback season, jumping 1.87m, for 7th overall. Again competing at a high level, Outhwaite looks ready to score points for Williams this spring.
Perhaps the Ephs' best performances came toward the end of the meet, in the pole vault and shot put. In the pole vault, Pierceson Brown '18 cleared 4.66m for 3rd place. This mark is a new indoor school record, although Brown has vaulted higher outdoors. Brown looks able to improve on his 2nd place finish at last year's NESCAC Championships.
In the shot put, first-year Magnus Herweyer willed himself to a national berth. Having just thrown a personal best by 34 centimeters the week before, entering this meet with a seed of 15.98 meters, Herweyer crushed that personal best with his very first throw, throwing 16.36m. With his next throw, Herweyer threw another personal best, this time 16.45 meters, a mark that would have safely qualified him for NCAAs. But Herweyer wasn't yet finished, throwing a mark of 16.58 meters on his final throw, moving to 10th on the qualifying list. The mark would have won the 2016 NESCAC Championship shot put by 2 centimeters shy of a full meter.
The Ephs next compete at the 2017 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships at North Central College in Napersville, IL. The Ephs will be sending Kirgis, Fong, Colaizzi, and Folsom in the Distance Medley Relay, co-captain Peter Hale '17 in the 3000, co-captain Tobias Muellers '18 in the heptathlon, and Herweyer in the shot put.
