Sports

PRs for men at Widener

In print | April 24, 2008

“It was a hot day, so times weren’t the best, but the fiery passion of the athletes rivaled the intensity of the heat,” said Andrew VanBuren ’10 of the performances on the track at the Widener Invite this past weekend.

The competition began on Friday with a bit of distance and discus action. Ross Weller ’08 led the 5k men with a Conference qualifying time of 15:31 despite the dehydrating effects of the high temperatures on the track. Fellow seniors Jonathan Shoop and Mickey Katz also ran a couple of beautiful races, starting out conservatively and picking people off.

Throwers Neel Prakash ’09, Nick Willet-Jeffries ’10 and Tommy Huang ’10 all threw both Friday and Saturday and were joined by Jake Baskin ’10 for the shot put on Saturday.

Although they collectively voiced disappointment in their weekend performances, many of which just missed Conference qualifying standards, they were also proud of their coach Tom Reynolds. Reynolds posted top ten marks in all of the throws events, which include the discus, shot put, javelin and hammer. Willet-Jefferies explained that this coming weekend, the last meet before conferences, is an important one for the throwers. “TCNJ is a big meet for us. Neel is on the verge of qualifying in the javelin, and a bunch of us are right near the line in various events,” he said.

Tramane Hall ’11 made his season debut in the long jump, posting a distance of 5.52m. Field Athletes Brendan McVeigh ’11 and Huang both no heighted in the pole vault. As first-year McVeigh described college competition: “It’s challenging trying to adjust to this level of vaulting — it’s like being a high school freshman all over again. I’m looking forward to improving over the next couple of years.”

On the track Yongjun Heo ’09 and Hall rocked it in the sprints. Dan Kurz ’11 posted a season best of 54.05 in the 400 while teammate Chris Mayer-Bacon ’11 dropped a 57.85. Having already qualified for Conferences in the 800, Kurz said that at this point in the season there is “no pressure, just enjoying running.”

The 800 was a particularly exciting event this past weekend, as it marked the season debut of Jaymes Fairfax-Columbo ’10 on the track, Connor Darby’s first 800 of the season, as well as a stunning performance by VanBuren. After the race Fairfax-Columbo discussed his feelings, saying, “Although I was disappointed with the result, it was good to race again. All in all the boys did really well this weekend. VanBuren had a heart breaker — missing the conference qualifier by .01, but I have full confidence that he’ll get it this coming weekend.”

VanBuren also shared his thoughts after the 800, saying that, “Darby had a solid race. I was pretty upset that he didn’t throw up some number 1’s when he finished, but he was pretty tired.”

Continuing with season bests, Alex Breslow ’11 dropped his 1500 time to 4:44 this past Saturday. Rounding out the individual races was Mayer-Bacon’s 1:03 in the 400 hurdles. The Swat men also competed in both the 4×100 and 4×400meter relays, posting times of 48.2 and 3:40 respectively.

Tonight, Weller will be competing in the steeplechase at the prestigious Penn Relays. The team is ecstatic to cheer their leader on as he braves the barriers, water pits and fatigue for the ultimate glory of surviving and dominating the steeplechase. “I’ve been training all season, working on my cheering skills, in order to cheer on Ross at the Penn Relays,” says teammate Katz.

Dan Hodson added, “Although I enjoy watching Ross and his silky-smooth six pack abs run, if you sit by the water pit during a steeple chase, it’s almost as if he’s flying, and I’m very excited to see that this Thursday at Penn.”

While Weller gives it his all at Penn, the rest of the Swarthmore men’s track team will be preparing for their final pre-Conference track meet of the season, the Lion’s Invite which will be held at TCNJ this Saturday.

Disclsoure Note: Jaymes Fairfax-Columbo is a contributor to The Phoenix but had no role in the production of this article.