Attempting the distance double is a tough endeavor, but the field assembled for the 5k was undoubtedly the deepest and fastest ever. Her 17:03 seeding going in was only 10th, so the challenge was going to be to try and crack the Top 8 and earn her 8th All-American award. The effort of her 10k on Thursday, the cold and rainy conditions and the quality of the field had little effect on her as she,  like she has in every race, proved to one of the top runners in the country. The race went out very quickly, and sticking to the game plan, Carter hung back off of the lead pack but in the Top 8 through the first mile, passing through in 5:18.  There was a 3-4 second gap from the chase pack (eventual winner Missy Buttry had opened a large gap and the chase pack was running for the next places) and Carter and a girl from Elmhurst, but the Top 8 positions had been determined,  now the order was the only question. After going through the 3k in 10:04 and the 2 mile in 10:46, the girl from Elmhurst made a strong move which Carter responded to an suddenly they were both in the chase pack, which was now comprised on 7 runners in a very tight pack. As the group entered the back stretch heading into 600m to go, Carter moved quickly to the front of the pack and took the lead and started to string out the pack and held on to the lead as she passed through 3 miles in 16:08 and it was only until the final homestretch that seniors Mary Proulx of Keene St and Melissa White of SUNY Geneseo (1-2 in the 10k) passed her but she finished strong to finish fourth, lowering her PR by nearly 12 seconds and improving upon her seasonal best by nearly 20 seconds. While the distance events provided a great deal of excitement and great performances, Carter (certainly some bias but that is okay) had arguably the best weekend of competition as she improved her season and personal best times in both events that she ran, improved upon her seed times in both events that she ran and beat people who had the upper hand on her during the regular season. The weekend was a huge success, and with it comes an end to the 2003 track season.

Mike Page and John Stanton-Geddes, hoping for fast time to finish the season were content to go for a 1-2 finish rather then fast times due to the wind, and they accomplished that as Page broke away from the field with a mile to go and John moved into the second spot with a big last lap kick. Dave Molina had a strong race in his section of the 800, despite a slow opening lap, as he made a big move with 250 to go and held on for 2nd in his heat. Andy Schneider, in his section of the 800, took the field out hard but had trouble holding the pace  - possibly due to not having slept in two days. Janak Chandrasoma ran to a 22.96 time on the 200 before anchoring the 4 x 400 relay team of Nathaniel Mahlberg, Brian Hart, and Molina to a 13th place finish.

Erinn White, building on the momentum of her last 2 races, continued her improvement in the 5000m as she not only lowered her best time again, but also dipped under the provisional qualifying standard for the National Championships with her 17:53 time and 12th place finish. Kate Hamill courageously led her section of the 800m through the first 600m of the race, into a strong headwind, and then felt the effects of the front running on the final homestretch as she ran 2:22. Carter Hamill attempted to brave the strong winds as she led the 1500 through the first 1000m before succumbing to those who had tucked in behind her, allowing her to due the early pace work and wind buffering and finished in 4:46. The 4 x 400 Relay team of Kate, Laurel Kilgour, Lyndsey Scott and Monica Westin finished the day with a 4:09 clocking and a second place in our section of the relay and an over all 13th place finish.

The women went into the met with two goals in mind - a Top Ten finish and a victory in at least one event. With the last event being the 4x800, and not having a victory at that point, the team of Aly Venti, Ginger Polich, Laurel Kilgour and Kate Hamill raced near the front until just before the final exchange when Laurel moved into the lead and Kate never looked back as the team grabbed the win, and in doing so, scored enough points to grab 8th overall. Carter Hamill battled some wind and Caroline Cretti from Williams in the 5000, and finished 2nd with her 2nd fastest 5k ever and qualified for Nationals automatically. In the same race, Erinn White ran in the chase pack and refused to back off and her efforts paid off as she raced under the 18 minute mark for the first time ever, grabbing 5th place and lowering her best time by nearly 20 seconds. Krissy Morin competed on Friday and Saturday in her first collegiate heptathlon and came away with some PR's and a 5th place finish with new bests posted in the shot put and long jump. Alison Rodriguez nearly missed the van in the morning but atoned for her alarm failure by grabbing 8th place and cracking the 12 minute mark in the steeplechase as she lowered her best time by 15 seconds. The 4 x 100 team of Ali Stahl, Ariel Haney, Julia Rucker and Lyndsey Scott grabbed the 8th and final scoring spot, and then in the 4x400 the team of Scott, Stahl, Haney and Monica Westin grabbed the 7th spot. In the day's first event, the 10k, Ali Dimon had an awesome race and not only grabbed 6th place but also broke the 40 minute barrier to lower her best time ever. The 800 continued to be a tough event for us, as the chase for fast times continues to elude us despite strong races by Ginger Polich in her section running 2:22.08, and then with Kate and Laurel who were in the 2nd section and the pace was very slow through the first lap and Kate picked the pace up through the 600, with Laurel pushing the pace until the waning stages of the race.

The men were paced by the men's 4 x 100 team surprise 3rd place finish, as Jay Wagstaff, Janak Chandrasoma, Brian Hart and Nathaniel Mahlberg got great legs and hand-offs from everyone to improve upon their 8th place seed to move all the way to 3rd. Mike Page had undoubtedly his best race at Amherst in the 5000 as he battled a Bowdoin and Wesleyan runner all the way to the finish to grab 3rd and run nearly 30 seconds faster then ever before. John Stanton-Geddes, in the same race, ran at the front of the pack before falling off in the last 2 laps but rallied well in the last 300m to move back into the 5th spot. Nick Canevari had a great day as he grabbed points in the discus with his surprise 7th place finish and inched closer to the record for freshmen throwers, then added 2 feet to his shot put best, and just missed making the finals in the javelin. Julius Nanna, despite limited jumping due to nagging injuries, posted his two best triple jumps ever and almost cracked the 42 foot mark. The 4x400 quartet of Janak Chandrasoma, Nathaniel Mahlberg, Brian hart and Jack Morgan all had great splits and it helped to knock 3 seconds off of their time from the week before - in beautiful conditions as compared to this weekend's rainy and cold ones. Matt Birmingham had an awesome run in the 400, despite having to wait nearly 20 minute to race due to a delay with the timing system. Matt Katz and Zeke Phillips took their first ever cracks at the 10k and came away with great first race times, Dan will look to improve upon them later this season.

The men were paced by victories from Andy Schneider in the 800, who used a great finishing kick to secure the win and race to a fast time, while Matt Katz had an equally devastating kick to close a gap of 40 meters in the last 200m of the race to not only win the 5k, but drop 20 seconds from his previous best time. Jay Wagstaff was all over the track as he led off the runner-up 4x100 team of himself, Janak Chandrasoma, Brain Hart and Nathaniel Mahlberg and also grabbed points in the 100, 200, long, triple and high jumps, as well as in the pole vault to easily post the most points for the team. Janak grabbed a runner-up finish in a very tight 200m to go along with his 5th place showing in the 400. Alex Lenkoski had a great race in the steeplechase, and lowered his best time. Dave Molina led a 4,5,7 finish of John Stanton-Geddes and Jack Morgan in the 1500 and then came back in the end of the day to join with Janak, Jack, and Andy in the 4x400 to post their fastest time of the spring to grab second behind Williams. The Weight Crew had a great day, as Nick Canavieri grabbed a runner-up finish in the javelin in his first attempt at the event and then PR'd in the shot to grab 3rd, while Brad Backus grabbed a 3rd and 4th in the discus and shot - both with PR throws, and G Roe posted the top mark of the team in the hammer to grab points in that event. Dave Schreiner, Zeke Phillips and Evan Guiney all had great races, despite the heat, in the men's 5k. Julius Nanna, despite not practicing for the last 2 weeks due to a heel/quad injury, put a great effort in the triple jump to nearly equal his best jump ever, and also grabbed points in both the long and high jump.

The women got things started well in the very first event, as Ginger Polich led Aly Venti and Monica Westin to a 2-3-4 finish, with Monica racing to a big PR of 2:25. Carter Hamill won the 1500 in a quick time of 4:45 with Kate Hamill coming in shortly after, and running to a PR time of 4:57. Helen Dole had a breakout race in the 1500 as well, as she raced to a 5:10 and had Margaret Davis hot on her heels in a fast time as well. Carter came back to win the 3200, leading Erinn White and Jenny Horowitz to a 1-2-3 sweep of the event. Ariel Haney and Laurel Kilgour grabbed a 3rd and 4th in the 400 in their first cracks at that race. Krissy Morin raced to her fastest time of the year in the high hurdles, as well as tying with Julia Rucker in the High Jump at 4-8. The 4 x 400 team of Jess Conell-Price (arriving straight from lab and barely warmed up), Ariel Haney, Ginger Polich and Kate Hamill raced to their fastest time of the season to finish just behind UMass.

The men's lone victory came courtesy of Mike Page in the steeplechase, as he returned to the event after a 2 year absence and won by a solid margin over the field. Jack Morgan led Dave Molina and Andy Schneider to a 2-3-4 finish in a very exciting 800 as all raced under 2:00 despite the windy backstretch. Nick Canavieri grabbed a 5th place in the discus with a great throw, and he along with fellow throwers Brad Backus, Gee Roe and Matt Birmingham raced to a solid 4x100 time in the weight man's relay  the premier event of the meet. Matt Katz grabbed a 5th place finish in the seldom run 2 Mile as he dipped under the 10 minute mark. Jay Wagstaff grabbed a 4th place finish in the 100 as he, along with James Seltzer raced into a stiff headwind that made quick times near impossible. Janak Chandrasoma led Brian hart and Ngai Otieno to a sweep of their section of the 400m. John Stanton Geddes teamed up with the Unit (Schneider), Jack and Fraser Kitchell to grab a second place in the Distance Medley Relay, and he also grabbed a 5th place in a strong 1500 field in which Evan Guiney and Billy McNitt both had great races in.

Ali Dimmon got the day started for the women with a solo effort in the 10k as she led wire to wire during the coldest and windiest portion of the day. Aly Venty grabbed a runner-up finish in the 3000 as she led for a majority of the race into the wind, and Erinn White and Jenny Horowtiz came in just after. Ali Rodriquez and Helen Dole finished 2-3 in the steeplechase - on a day where you almost had to chip the ice out of the water pit! Julia Rucker and Krissy Morin tied for 3rd in the high jump, and Krissy would also compete in the hurdles - grabbing a 4th - and the 800 and shot put to qualify for DIII New England's in the heptathlon with a score of 3300.  Jess Connell-Price grabbed a runner-up spot in the 800 in her first race back, and Ginger Polich and Kate Hamill - also with her first race back - finished 4th and 5th. Ali Stahl grabbed a 4th and 6th place finish in the 100 and 200. Ariel Haney and Nzingha Tyehemba finishde 4th and 5th in the 400 Hurdles, separated by a mere .02 seconds.

The men were paced by a victory and runner-up finish by Nathaniel Mahlberg in the High and Intermediate hurdles. Grabbing runner-up points were Alex Lenkoski in the steeplechase; the 4 x 400 relay of Nathaniel, Brian Hart, Dave Molina and Janak Chandrasoma; Janak in the 200, the 4 x 100 team of Dave Schreiner, Evan Guiney, Matt Katz and Adam David - all of whom had run the 5000 shortly before in great season opening times; and Julian Seltzer grabbed 2nd in the 100 just ahead of twin brother James. The 1500 and 800 provided lots of Amherst color as everyone doubled in the events and John Stanton-Geddes led the Amherst contingent in both events with a 4th and 5th place showing, Mike Page grabbed 5th in the 1500 and Andy Schneider and Dave Molina grabbed points. Brian Hart, Devin LoPresti and Matt Birmingham raced well into the wind in the 400 to start their season off well, and in the throwing events, newcomers Brad Bakkus and Nick Canavieri threw well in both the shot and discus with Brad grabbing points in both events. Julius Nanna grabbed points in both the long and triple jump.