BY NYIKA CORBETT

In print | Published February 14, 2008

While most Swatties have been trying to avoid the bitter cold these past few days, the Swarthmore Men’s Indoor Track Team has been heating it up on the track.

At Boston University’s Valentine Invitational on Saturday, Connor Darby ‘09 ran a smoking 1:57.9 in the 800 meter race. An indoor PR for Darby, this performance gives him the second best time in the Centennial Conference this season. Darby’s race was also a joyful reunion with Swat alumnus, teammate and friend Matt Schiller ’07.

As Coach Pete Carroll said about the friendly rival, “They were battling, so Connor ran a pretty solid race.” While Carroll was delighted with Darby’s race, he was also happy to see Schiller in such fine form. “I wish he looked that good last year at this time. He ran very well,” Carroll said.

Schiller, who ran a 1:58.1, has been running for the Greater Boston Track Club while he works as an economic consultant in Boston. The 2007 indoor Conference champion in the 400 meter dash, Schiller said that running with the GBTC, which includes prior All-Americans and top Division I athletes as well as other post-collegiate runners, has been a great experience.

After the race, Schiller, whose life is no longer consumed by seminars, late-night studying and problem sets, gave a few members of the track team a rundown on what running life is like after Swarthmore. “I actually have a ton more time to train now, because I get off of work at six and then I’m free to run,” he said.

On Monday a small but mighty group of Swarthmore men competed in the Haverford Quad Meet. As Andrew VanBuren ’10 said, “It was a brisk day, the sun was shining, the smell of gunpowder was in the air, and we were ready to rock.”

Yongjun Heo ’09 sprinted to a top ten finish in both the 55m and 200m dashes. Dan Kurz ’11 continued to roll, clocking a 54.33 in the 400, a time good enough to qualify for the Centennial Conference Championships. Seth Green ’10 and Chris Mayer-Bacon ’11 competed in the 400 as well, posting times of 56.56 and 58.43 respectively.

Destroying his heat of the 800m, VanBuren also ran a Conference qualifying time of 2:09. Teammate Ernesto Manzo ‘11 ran a 2:12 to complete Swarthmore’s showing in the 800. Chris Sawyer ’10 represented the distance men with a time of 10:13 in the 3000. Tommy Huang ’10 and Brendan McVeigh ’11 both competed in the pole vault, with McVeigh clearing a height of 10 feet. Huang also competed in the shot put along with teammate Neel Prakash ’09, who with great force and willpower set another PR in the onerous event.

Despite some illness, the team marches on. “The flu has hit us hard. Hopefully we’ll have a good showing on the 22nd, and get some more people qualified for Conferences,” Coach Pete Carroll said.

Men’s track will next compete on Feb. 22 at the Keogh Invite at Haverford College.

« RETURN TO SPORTS

« PREV ARTICLE | NEXT ARTICLE »