The men’s and women’s track teams each posted several top-three finishes in the mile and shorter running events at the Tufts Invitational last weekend. Both teams will compete in the Valentine’s Day Classic at Boston University this weekend before heading into the post season.
In the Tufts Invitational, Chris Brown ’12 and captain Dan Anastos ’11 placed second and third respectively in the mile.
Brian Foley ’13 placed third in the 200 meter dash and Deven Holgate ’11 won the 1,000 meter run.
In the women’s mile, captain Beth Pisarik ‘10 and Hannah Lindholm ‘11 came in first and second respectively. Anna Sinjour ’10 also contributed by winning the 400 meter dash.
“It went well for everyone to have a relaxing meet where they could just try their hardest,” captain Suzanne Bernier ’10 said.
The meet came towards the end of the regular season with Division III New England Championships, Open New England Championships, UAA Championships, and NCAA Championships coming in the next four weeks.
“Definitely the biggest challenge when preparing for the post season is to not get burnt out or injured,” captain Lucia Capano ‘11 wrote in an email to The Hoot. “When we push ourselves at the end of the season its easy to get carried away and hurt yourself. We definitely wouldn’t want that.”
“Keeping everyone healthy physically and mentally is always a top priority,” Anastos wrote in an email to The Hoot. “However, if we continue on this path it seems likely that we will transition smoothly into post season competition.”
Both the men’s and the women’s team will face upcoming challenges against top schools like Washington University in St. Louis that have larger teams with more athletes participating in field events.
“We don’t have a lot of depth, but there’s a lot of quality people,” Paul Norton ’11 said.
“With the people we have, we’re doing about the best we can, and I think since we don’t have any hurdlers, we don’t have any people in the field events, it’s pretty much impossible for us to be competitive with a team like Washington University in St. Louis that has 60 guys who are going to be entered in everything,” Norton said.
Bernier also said that one of the challenges will be “just to have enough depth to make up for where we don’t have people.”
The men’s team who does not have any athletes competing in the hurdles or field events, according to Norton, will look for strong performances from its runners to help put as many athletes as possible on the all UAA team.
Commenting on the team’s goals for the rest of the season, Norton said, “I think that we just have to focus on each person having the best showing they can.”
Bernier said that the women’s team would like to place in top three at the UAA Championships. In the past, the team has often placed third or fourth.
The women’s team will compete today at 1 p.m. at the Boston University Valentine Invitational. The men’s meet begins tomorrow at 9 a.m.
