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In print | Published February 7, 2008

Women clock qualifying times

By James Fairfax-Columbo

Despite competing with a thinned-out roster, the Garnet women’s track team posted several solid performances at the Haverford Seamus McElligott Invitational. Caitlin Mullarkey ’09 ran 5:18.40 in the mile, good enough for a fifth-place—both in the meet and on the Garnet top-ten list. Lauren Deluca ’10, Bess Ritter ’09 and Ashley Davies ’10 also clocked in with strong performances, running times of 5:34.26, 5:37.05, and 5:45.98 respectively. As a result, all four women qualified for the Centennial Conference Championships to be held March 1-2.

While the majority of the Garnet women’s action occurred in the mid-distance division, Heather Hightower ’09, Nathalie De Gaiffier ’10 and Rebecca Woo ’11 held down the fort in the throwing, sprinting and long-distance events. Hightower threw 6.90 meters in the shot put, De Gaiffier ran 33.98 for the 200 and Woo ran 11:43.48 in the 3000, the last performance a conference qualifying mark.

All things considered, the Swarthmore women turned in a very solid showing, especially considering that nearly all the athletes competed in events that were relatively unfamiliar to them. According to assistant coach John Noon, the Invitational “was a good meet for us to get some conference qualifiers. People really weren’t running their main events today, but trying new things to get the strength to be successful in their own events. For example, Cait Mullarkey ran the mile in preparation for the 800 at Boston, and Nathalie De Gaiffier ran the 200 to increase her speed down the runway in the jumps.” Hightower’s performance was just as solid by comparison, considering that she is still a relative newcomer to the sport. Competing in only her first varsity season for the Garnet, Hightower still has a bit of adjusting to do. She described her experience with throwing as being “rough at first because I had no idea what I was doing. I was just trying to piece together the individual mechanics of it. Now I’m trying to figure out more a personal technique. I am throwing farther by a meter to a meter-and-a-half.” Despite her obvious talent as a thrower, Hightower has a humble view of her early successes, attributing her strong performance to “a lot of strength training…and being coached by the illustrious Tom ‘Gladiator’ Reynolds.”

The Garnet women weren’t the only ones working up a sweat at the meet however, as quite a few supporters turned up to cheer the athletes on. Ashley Davies said she was surprised by “how many people were here … supporting the team, yelling and cheering. It made the transition into indoor track very welcoming having so much support. The team is excited for the rest of the season.”

If this week’s performances were any indication of what the future holds for the Garnet women, they have every reason to be excited. The men’s and women’s teams will both be competing at the Boston University Valentine Invite on Friday and Saturday, March 8-9 and closer to home at the Haverford College Quad Meet on Monday, March 11.

PRs abound on men’s team

By Niyika Corbett

When asked about the indoor track team’s tough training regime, Connor Darby ‘09 had one thing to say: “We take it balls to the wall.” That’s just what the Garnet men did this past Saturday at the McElligott Invitational held at neighboring Haverford College. The day was full of impressive accomplishments, tough competition and numerous personal records.

The Swarthmore throwing squad made an impressive showing. Of the four young men competing in the shot put event (Nick Willet-Jeffries ’10, Samuel Garcia ’08, Jake Baskin ’10 and Tommy Huang ’10), three of them threw PRs. Coach Tommy Reynolds was thrilled with their progress. “These guys are doing great. They are all new to the sport, and they are all improving and developing into a solid throws group,” Reynolds said.

The other field event in which two Swarthmore men competed was the pole vault. The two pole vaulters, freshman Brendan McVeigh ‘11 and rookie vaulter Huang, are new but valuable additions to the track team. Being a freshman field-event athlete on the team has its challenges, according to McVeigh, but the newcomers are adapting well. "It was initially difficult to find my place on the team because the pole vaulters don’t spend much time working out with the rest of the guys, but everyone seems to be very welcoming and supportive," McVeigh said.

On the track, the Swarthmore men kept the intensity up with competitors in every event excluding the 5k and the 4×4 relay. Chris Mayer-Bacon ‘11 came out strong with a fifth place finish in the 55m hurdles. Bacon’s performance was followed up by an excellent mile run by Alex Frye ’11, who clocked in with a time of 4:46.

Sprinters YJ Heo ’09, Emmanuel Afrifa ’11 and Simon Nin Zhu ’11 all competed in the 55m dash. Afrifa and Nin Zhu both doubled back in the 200m later in the afternoon.

Dan Kurz ‘11 opened his season with an impressive 2:04 in the 800m dash. Kurz said he was pleased with his first performance of the season, but looks to lose a few seconds in the coming months. "It was a good starting point. I’d like to be under two [minutes] this year, but it feels good to be back on the track," he said.

Four distance runners, lead by Micah Katz ‘08, competed in the final event of the day. Katz, Darby and Andrew VanBuren ’10 all posted PRs in the 3k. Coach Pete Carroll said that the team’s strong showing at Saturday’s meet bodes well for future competitions. “It was the season opener for the majority of our team, and it was a good meet to get our feet wet. The substantial number of [personal records] is an encouraging sign for the rest of the season,” Carroll said.

This weekend, Darby and a few members of the women’s indoor track team, will travel to Boston University to compete in the Valentine Invitational. Haverford will host the next local meet, scheduled for Monday, Feb. 11.

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