BY MADDIE WILLIAMS

In print | Published February 19, 2009

While other Swatties were busy exchanging chocolates and roses this weekend, representatives from the Swarthmore men’s and women’s indoor track and field teams journeyed to New England to compete in the Valentine Invitational hosted by Boston University. Teams came from colleges all over the northeast, Division I and Division III alike, to compete in this annual event.

Despite this bad-timing, the Swarthmore teams managed to find success. “We had six personal bests out of eight performances, [with] two of the eight [runners] under the weather health-wise,” said Head Coach Pete Carroll. “I’d say that’s pretty good.” Dan Ly ’12 also reflected positively on the team’s Valentine’s Day success, noting that the athletes still found “the strength to run particularly fast and get [personal records].”

In particular, Kenyetta Givans ’12 continued a banner debut season and ran just shy of a school record in the women’s 55-meter high hurdles. She finished a mere .01 seconds short of the record, set in 1997 by Catherine Laine. “I still can’t believe I got so close to it. It still hasn’t sunk in yet,” said Givans, who posted a time of 8.72. As just a first-year with more races to come in this season, Givans certainly has time to take another crack at the record. “I would love to break that record and run around an 8.68 or so,” she continued.

Several other Garnet athletes brought home impressive performances at the BU Invitational. Melissa Frick ’12 posted a personal-best time in the women’s 5000-meter run with a time of 18:10.99. Also in the 5000-meter race, Bess Ritter ’09 finished with a personal-best time of 18:20.08. Coach Carroll pointed out that both Frick and Ritter “had top ten all-time performances in Swat track history in their respective events.”

In the women’s 3000-meter run, Kathy Feeney ’09 finished with a time of 10:52.82, a personal-best. Caitlin Mullarkey ’09 also recorded an impressive time in the women’s 5000-meter run, crossing the finish line at 17:48.98.

Among the Swarthmore men, Dan Hodson ’09 ran a personal-best time in the 3000-meter run, clocking in at 8:58.25. Erik Saka ’09 also recorded a personal-best time of 8:55.17 in the 3000-meter run. Saka also placed in the all-time top ten Swarthmore performances for this event in the history of the college. Additionally, Connor Darby ’09 finished strong at 1:59.68 in the men’s 800-meter race, recording yet another personal record.

Now, the Swarthmore men’s and women’s track and field teams look ahead to the Centennial Conference Championships. The Conference Championship, hosted this year by Ursinus College, is a two-day event that will take place on Friday, Feb. 27 and Saturday, Feb. 28. Some of the top runners from other Centennial Conference teams will compete for the Conference Championships. Carroll said that there is a particular strategy to the Conference Championships. “We have to decide who on our team is going to match them event for event, and who will take advantage of the opponents [that spread] themselves too thinly,” he explained.

The anticipation and preparation for Centennial Conference Championships is slightly bittersweet, for the team will bid adieu to the women’s team’s six seniors and the men’s team’s five seniors. “They were very welcoming to me and the other newcomers to the team this season. [We] will definitely miss them next year,” commented Givans.

Coach Carroll echoed these sentiments, saying “lately, many have performed personal bests, [and] many will be big factors at the conference meet. It is very satisfying to watch the seniors improve because of their hard work and dedication to the program.” While several will still be around for spring outdoor track, the seniors will still be missed after their last indoor track season.
The Swarthmore men’s and women’s track and field teams will compete in their last regular season meet for the Keogh Invite at Haverford College at 4 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 20.

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