2005 Outdoor T & F Meet Notes

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Carter Hamill Feature - The Student Athlete of the Year
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NCAA's - May 26-28th
The final recap of the year, and without a doubt, the toughest one to write as it is the last one of the 2004-05 year, and will also close out an extremely successful chapter of Amherst Track and Cross Country history - the Carter Hamill era. Finishing the season is always difficult as it is the last time with the seniors, and at this NCAA's, the incredible careers for 3 seniors - Lee-Jay Henry, Mike Page and Carter have ended. All three went out with a bang, as Lee-Jay triple jumped her way to her first ever All-American award with her 38-8.25 7th place finish. Coming in as the 15th seed, and not expected to make the final, she hit 38-8 on her 2nd jump, and then bested that by .25 inches on her first jump in the finals to briefly move into 6th, and ended up with a nearly foot PR. Mike entered as the 7th seed but was never out of the top four position in the race, as the pace was controlled and as each lap clicked by, he continued to remain focused and used his combination of strength, speed, and hurdling ability to finish off his Amherst running with his first ever individual All-American honors for his 4th place effort (also has 2 DMR All-Americans to his credit). Carter got her weekend started with the 10k, and tried valiantly to go after the 23 year old meet record of 33:50. She jumped into the lead and was never pressed or challenged, and went through the 5k in 16:48 en route to her 34:00.43 victory - the 5th fastest in NCAA history, and a PR and new school record. On Saturday, in her last race, the 5000, she finished behind Missy Buttry, but well ahead of 3rd place in a new outdoor PR of 16:39 and ended her career with 18 All-American honors, 5 NCAA Championships and the dubious distinction of earning All-American status for all four years in XC, Indoor and Outdoor track - having finished every race she ran at NCAA in All-American position. Shauneen Garrahan, despite battling a sinus infection that unfortunately hit early in the week and effected her all throughout, had a tremendous meet as she won her first National title in the steeplechase as she stayed on the shoulders of the leaders throughout the early going before blasting away to the win in the last 500 meters of the race. She ran a season best time in the steeple, and also did the same in the qualifying rounds of the 1500, making the finals on the basis of her 2nd place finishing time of 4;33.75 before getting 7th in the 1500 final, running 4:34.19 and then adding a 10th place finish in the 5k in 17:17.16. The "triple" is an extremely difficult one, and while her health misfortunes certainly did not make it any easier, she still had a tremendous meet and will be a force for the next 2 years. Margaret Davis, qualifying for the meet with her Open New England winning time, grabbed 14th overall in a 37:56 - her 2nd fastest 10k ever, and made her NCAA debut a successful one. In the team scoring, the women finished in a tie for 5th place with 32 points - there best ever outdoor finish, to go along with their 3rd place indoor finish. The men finished in a tie for 39th with 5 points.
ECAC's - May 19-20th
In the last meet of the season for some, a final tune-up for the NCAA's for a few others and for a small few, a last chance to hit NCAA qualifying marks - the teams headed to Springfield for the ECAC Championships. For the seniors - Carter, Lee-Jay, Alison, Page and Jack - it would be their last collegiate meet in New England, bringing a close to great careers. On thursday night, Heather Wilson changed the complexion of her season, which to this point had been thrown off track by an IT injury but sticking to the 6:00 pace, she kept hitting the splits and with a lap to go, surged into the lead and won the 10k and hit an NCAA provisional mark of 37:20 in the process while A-Rod finished up her Amherst career with an 8th place finish in the same event. Lee-Jay Henry finished 10th in the hurdles, running a season's best time and then on Friday, grabbed a 9th place finish in the long jump despite some problems with her mark, and then grabbed a 5th place finish later in the day in the triple jump. Shauneen and Carter both raced in the 1500, and from the start of the race it resembled a mid-week workout as the two quickly broke away from everyone and then battled each other to the line with Shauneen coming out on top by the narrowest of margins, both hitting NCAA marks in the process, as they tuned up for the upcoming NCAA. Ginger Polich, despite battling a foot injury all spring, still was able to race to her outdoor best time while grabbing 7th place, and then she, along with Shauneen, Julia Rucker and Keyonte Sutherland grabbed a 13th place finish in the 4x400 relay with the season's best time. Lee-Jay, Keyonte and Julia teamed up with Hannah Campbell to run the 4x100 in their fastest time of the year to place 11th. Margaret Davis grabbed 8th place in the 5000 and posted a solid time despite going through the first mile at nearly her Mile PR.

Jack Morgan finished off a stellar running career with a runner-up finish in a very tight and competitive 800, as he ran under 1:54 but just missed hitting a mark for NCAA's. Mike Page ran in the unseeded section of the 1500 and easily won his race, and his personal best time of 3:58.22 was fast enough to earn 7th place. Sam Hayman finished 18th in the 800, running another 1:56 800 as his huge improvements this season show a great deal of promise for the upcoming year.

We await the NCAA field lists to find out who will be making the trip to Wartburg College for the NCAA's as Mike Page has qualified for the Men in the steeplechase, while Shauneen Garrahan and Carter Hamill both qualified in multiple events and Margaret Davis and Heather Wilson in the 10k and Lee-Jay Henry in the Triple Jump will have to wait until late Monday night to find out about their fate.

Open New England's - May 13-14th (Student)
Coming off a week of writing papers, studying for and taking exams, and generally getting little sleep at best, those that qualified for the Open New England Championships headed to UNH looking for great competition, a weekend of no rain and a chance of attaining great marks to either end the season on, or move on to the upcoming championships. Margaret Davis raced in the 10k, and was looking to try and attain an NCAA provisional time and after opening the first mile in 5:52, she continued to race in a tight pack of three runners, hitting the 1/2 way point in 18:35 and then with 2 laps to go, she put in a huge move to open a little breathing room and then finished her last lap in an 80 to not only win the race but also run to a near-minute PR in 37:03.67. Lee-Jay Henry, also looking for an NCAA Mark, was just shy in the long jump where she had placed 5th on Friday in a new PR (just missing breaking the 18 foot barrier) BUT then came Saturday and on her second attempt she got what she was seeking - an NCAA provisional mark of 37-10.75, as well capturing another 4th place showing on the weekend. Carter Hamill grabbed a victory in the 5k, as she led for the entire race and ran unchallenged for the win while Alison Rodriguez and katie Moravec grabbed 14th and 19th respectively in the same race with A-Rod just missing her PR. Shauneen garrahan grabbed a 4th place finish in the steeple, while Hannah Campbell, despite a shin injury that has been hampering her all season, raced well in the 100 and 200. Maria Millard grabbed 22nd in the 400 Hurdles.

Mike Page, racing in the steeplechase and hoping for a time fast enough to advance to NCAA's, grabbed a 2nd place finish in a new school record time of 9:09.50 and a time that should be good enough to make the cut for the NCAA Championships in 2 weeks. The 4x800 team of Sam Hayman, Rom Cabeza, John Babbott and Jack Morgan were hoping to break the school record in the relay but had to settle for a 6th place finish with a time of 7:48 - missing the mark by a mere second. Sam lead off with his fastest 800 ever, as he split 1:54.9 with the rest of the legs splitting 2:00, 1:56.6 and 1:56.5 respectively. IN the 800 qualifying rounds, Jack ran 1:56.86 but did not advance to the finals. Matt Katz finished off his AMherst career with a solid race in the 5k.

DIII New England's - May 6th -7th
Competing in the rain is something the teams have gotten used to this spring and Saturday was not different (did not say enjoyed!) For the first and only time this spring, the teams split up as the men headed to Springfield while the women traveled up to Maine and Bates College to challenge the best DIII competition. Cold, raw, lots of rain, a fierce wind, puddles on the track - all words to describe the day. There was debate about whether to move the meet indoors for the women, but fortunately only the field events were moved inside as the track events were all held outside and the athletes braved mother nature. The women headed up to Maine looking to better their team finish from last year, and got the runner-up finish that they hoped to be able to capture. What looked to be a tight battle between several teams for the 2nd place finish wound up being a battle between Amherst and Southern Maine, and in the end, the women grabbed 2nd with a point total of 82. The women's finish was led by Krissy Morin's victory in the heptathlon where she won 3 of the 7 events and finished 2nd in 2 others. Carter Hamill won the 5k, in a matchup of 2 of the best distance runners in the country, after having placed 5th in the 1500 a short while earlier. Shauneen Garrahan grabbed a runner-up spot in the 1500. Lee-Jay Henry grabbed a 3rd place finish in the 100 Hurdles, which was scheduled as qualifying heats to advance to the finals, but ended up being run as a timed final, grabbed 4th place in the long jump, another 3rd place in the triple jump, and then joined with Hannah Campbell, Keyonte Sutherland and Julia Rucker to grab a 3rd place finish in the 4x100 relay - winning their section. Alison Rodriguez raced her first ever 10k, and did so in fast fashion as she grabbed a 3rd place finish in a very quick 38:19, while Heather Wilson made her debut at the distance grabbing 4th place points. Ginger Polich finished 2nd in the fast section of the 800, but was displace by a runner from an earlier section and finished 3rd in a very competitive field. Margaret Davis grabbed 8th in the 5k, while Laura Mortimer came across the line just behind her with a new PR in the miserable conditions. Katie Moravec broke the 12 minute barrier in the steeplechase, as every barrier was like the water pit, and grabbed 6th place. Julia Rucker raced to her fastest time of the season in the 400, while Keyonte grabbed 9th place in the 200. The 4x400 team of Morin (coming back in the relay after a long 2 days of heptathlon competition), Sutherland, Henry and Campbell sealed the 2nd place finish with their 4th place finish in the relay.

The men had similar weather as the women, but it did not step them either. Mike Page got the day started with his victory over a loaded field in the steeple chase. His time of 9:12.87 is just off of the school record and improves his NCAA chances. Matt Katz grabbed a 3rd place finish in the 5k to finish out the scoring on the day. Tomas Morrissey grabbed 11th in the 5k, while in the far end of the track, Nick Canevari grabbed an 11th place finish in the discus throw. The 4x400 team of John Babbott, Rom Cabeza, Rich Wilson and Sam Hayman grabbed 14th place, while Babbott had finished  21st earlier in the day in the 1500 and Sam had grabbed an 18th place finish in the 800. Rich and Rob Boley finished 16th and 17th in the steeplechase. Hopefully the teams will have some warmer, drier conditions this weekend as they head to the University of New Hampshire for the All-New England Championships.

NESCAC's - April 30th
The long drive up to Colby College for the NESCAC Championship proved to be well worth the time, as both teams took advantage of great conference competition and better then expected weather (at least until the last few events of the meet). The women finished 5th, while the men finished 9th, and both teams left with 3 victories on the day. The men got wins by Mike Page in the steeplechase, and Jack Morgan successfully defending his title from last year in the 800. The duo joined with Sam Hayman and Rom Cabeza to finish the day off with a successful defense of their DMR win from a year ago. The women got a last jump victory by Lee-Jay Henry in the long jump, as she pulled into the winning spot from 3rd place on her last attempt, to win by 1/2 inch as she soared 17-5. Shauneen Garrahan and Carter Hamill, a bit fatigued from the long trip to and from Penn Relays the day before grabbed wins in the steeple chase and the 5k respectively. Both wins were set with new NESCAC records and without anyone to challenge them. Tomas Morrissey, running the 10k for the first time, added another freshmen record to his collection, as he raced to a 3rd place finish with a time of 31:53. Margaret Davis, like Tomas, grabbed a 3rd place in the 10k, just missing hitting the provisional mark for NCAA's in the process. Matt Katz grabbed 7th place in the 5k, as he ran 20 seconds faster then his previous best, despite the heavy rains. Rich Wilson, running in his second steeplechase, had a great race and did not let a knee knocking the barrier in the last lap deter him from breaking the 10 minute barrier and grabbing scoring points in the process. In the men's 5k, behind Katz, Cooper Knowlton, Mike Harbus and Rob Boley all ran to their best times ever. Evan Guiney stepped up to the 10 distance and raced to  DIII New England qualifying time. Dan Fisher raced to his fastest 1500 of the year, Sam Hayman just missed scoring points in the 800 while in an earlier section of the 800, Rom Cabeza was looking awesome after hitting the 400 split in 57 seconds but got tangled up with another runner and fell to the track - he was able to get up and then continued the race in a very gutsy performance.

Lee-Jay, after grabbing the win in the long jump, showed her toughness as she managed to lead off the 3rd place 4x400 team of Julia Rucker, Krissy Morin and Keyonte Sutherland as well as the 5th place 4x100 relay consisting of the same crew, and grabbing 3rd place on her last jump in the triple - all of this was done after a near crash in the hurdles that bruised her knees and shins. Maria Millard returned home to Maine, and had a great race in the 400 Hurdles as she destroyed the field in her section and wound up placing 6th overall. Julia grabbed a 7th place finish in the 400 to go along with her successful relay legs, while in an earlier section of the 400, Ellie Tarlow had a great race and a strong finish to lower her best time of the season. Ginger Polich grabbed 7th in the 800 - arguably the deepest and most competitive event at the meet, and then also helped the 4x800( Meg Ray, Carter, Shauneen) to a scoring finish. Krissy grabbed 6th place in the javelin while Alison Rodriguez would grab the final scoring point in the steeplechase

Penn Relays - April 28th
Competing at one the biggest track meets in the country, and with a great tradition in the distance events, Amherst certainly left its mark on the distance scene. Carter Hamill ran in the 10k, which was a combined college championship and Olympic Development (club and post collegiate runners). After an opening 5k time of 17:12, she ran on the shoulder of a club runner as they both picked the pace up and distanced themselves from the rest of the field and turned it into a 2 person battle. Carter would finish 2nd, but as the first collegiate runner, she captured the College Championship title and blasted her old PR by 40 seconds, as she ran 34:05 (having covered the 2nd 5k in 16:53) - moving up to #5 on the all-time NCAA DIII list. Shauneen Garrahan started the night off, as she stepped up to the 5k looking for a fast time and she was not disappointed. Looking to stay relaxed within the pack, she passed through the first mile in 5:20 and then started to move her way up through her pack and by the 2nd mile (10:39) she had moved to within the chase pack - a providence runner was well up in the front by herself. She continued to hit 79.5's per 400 until she hit the bell lap, and her and an Iona runner pulled away form the pack and the race was on, but with a closing 71 second 400 and 32 second last 200, Shauneen finished 2nd and raced to a 40 second PR with her 16:31.43 - a new school record and moving her into the Top 10 All-time for the DIII 5k.
Little Three's - April 23rd (Student)
With perfect weather all week long, you just knew that it could not possibly hold out through Saturday and in weather fit for anything but outdoor sports, the annual Little Three Championships was contested here at Amherst. As usual Williams and their large and talented squads had their way with Amherst and Wesleyan, and on the women's side Amherst grabbed 2nd, while the men settled for 3rd on the day. Fast times, big throws and long jumps - well, it was really going to be tough for those to happen in the miserable conditions, but it was the same weather for everyone and toughness wins out in the end. The women's 2nd place finish was led by victories by Ginger Polich in the 800, Krissy Morin in the high jump and the javelin (not to mention competing in a slew of other events), and the 4x400 relay team of Julia Rucker, Keyonte Sutherland, Lee-Jay Henry and Shauneen Garrahan.

The men's 3rd place finish was led by First Year Tomas Morrissey, and his wire to wire victory in the 5k. While Tomas had the lone victory on the day, the team was helped by runner-up finishes by both of the relay teams - the  4x400 team of Geoff Stricsek, Rom Cabeza, Jack Morgan and Sam Hayman, and the 4x100 team of Geoff Stricsek, Jon Ettinger, Sam Hayman and Jay Wagstaff; along with a 2-3 finish by Jack and Sam in the 400, LJ Spinnato grabbed a 2nd place in the hammer,  and Rob Boley finishing 2nd in the high jump after joining with Rich Wilson to finish 3-4 in the steeplechase.

Amherst Mid-Week Meet - April 19th
Due to early meet cancellations, and having a great day of weather, Amherst hosted a non-scoring meet attended by Trinity, Keene St and U-Mass-Lowell. Running a limited amount of events, and nothing longer then the 1500, the teams took advantage of near perfect conditions and posted some great results. Jack Morgan grabbed a win in the 800, breaking 1:55 in the process of holding off a hard charging Trinity runner. In 3rd place, and running to a huge PR was Sam Hayman. Nick Canevari qualified for the DIII New England meet with his winning throw in the discus, and he and fellow thrower Ryan Smith each broke 40 feet in the shot put, while LJ Spinnato grabbed a win in the hammer in his first competition. Mike Page won the fast section of the 1500, while hot on his heels was Matt Katz who lowered his PR. Robert Boley and Richard Wilson each raced to their fastest times, while Cooper KNowlton won the 2nd section of the 1500. Jon Ettinger grabbed a win in the 200.

Ginger Polich, in the pool for the entire week due to a nagging foot injury, stepped on to land for the first time and proceeded to run her fastest outdoor 800 time in winning that event. Carter Hamill dipped under the 2:20 mark for the first time in the same race. Shauneen Garrahan won the 1500 and lowered her seasonal best time, in qualifying for the NCAA's. The majority of the distance crew also raced in the 1500 race and posted some great times. Nzingha Tyehemba broke 70 seconds in the 400 Hurdles, and also hit the mark needed for the high hurdles to make the trip to DIII New England's. Lee-Jay Henry just missed qualifying for the NCAA's in the triple jump, finishing just 2 inches away for the minimum mark, and warmed up it by running her best time of the year in the high hurdles, running the 100, and then running a leg of the 4x400. Keyonte Sutherland grabbed a win in the 200 to go along with a runner-up finish in the 400


George Davis Invite - April 16th (Student)
The teams traveled to the University of Massachusetts at Lowell for the first time ever, and came away with some impressive marks and great competition. The large meet was a non scoring invitational, and a chance for the athletes to compete against many of the areas best Division II and III teams. Mike Page came away with the lone victory for the men, as he blasted the field in the steeplechase and qualified provisionally for the NCAA's in his first race over the barriers since his sophomore year. In the same race, Robert Boley and Cooper Knowlton both made successful debuts in the event and should continue to improve as they get comfortable with the barriers and water pit. IN the seldomly run race, the Two Mile, the distance boys made a solid showing as Tomas Morrissey and Matt Katz finished in 5th and 7th respectively, while Rich Wilson and Evan Guiney both ran to new PR's. John Babbott grabbed 6th in the 1500, while in the same race but a later section, basketball player turned runner in the spring, Dan Fisher had a great race running 4:15 and finishing 2nd in his heat. Sam Hayman ran to a New England DIII qualifying mark in the 400 before joining with Babbott, Jon Ettinger and Rom Cabeza to grab 7th in the 4x400. Nick Canevari cracked the 130 foot mark for the first time in the discus to go along with a long toss in the javelin.

Carter Hamill raced to victory in the 5k, lowering her time from last weekend, and was followed closely by Shauneen Garrahan who raced to an NCAA qualifying mark, and warmed up for the race by winning the 1500 earlier in the day in another NCAA mark. Alison Rodriguez destroyed her old personal best in the 5k by over 30 seconds in grabbing 6th place. Lee-Jay Henry just missed hitting a national mark in the long jump  as she soared to a jump of 17-10.5 - a mere 1.5 inches from the NCAA qualifier - to grab 2nd, and then finished 8th in the hurdles shortly after. Heather Wilson returned to the track and grabbed 2nd in the 3000 to lead a strong Amherst contingent as Margaret Davis was 4th and Laura Mortimer and Katie Moravec each broke 11 minutes. In the 2nd section, Mattea Kramer and Lucy Sheehan both worked with each other throughout the race and posted great results. Nzingha Tyehemba hit the DIII New England standard in the 100 Hurdles and just missed breaking 70 in the 400 Hurdles. The 4x400 team of Henry, Keyonte Sutherland, Julia Rucker and Hannah Campbell finished off a long day by grabbing 2nd in the 4x400 relay. Krissy Morin finished off her 2 weekend heptathlon by breaking 100 feet in the javelin, racing a strong 800 and long jumping nearly 15 feet despite having to hurry due to another event at the same time. Keyonte and Julia both raced the open 400 and finished 10th and 12th, while Hannah returned to the track for her first outdoor race and looked solid in the 100 and 200.

Trinity Invite - April 9th (Student & Honors)
Finally! After deciding not to run our scheduled first meet due to snow and ice on many parts of the track and then having our second meet canceled due to torrential downpours, the teams finally took to the track at the Trinity Invite and the weather could not have been better for early April. While the extra time of training has put us ahead of schedule as far as where we would be for a "first" meet, there were still some cobwebs to shake off and it was great to get a chance to compete. Senior co-captain Lee-Jay Henry wasted no time getting back into the swing of things as she won the long jump with a near 17 foot jump, then took second in the hurdles running under 16 seconds, and attempted her first real triple jump since freshmen year and just missed qualifying provisionally for NCAA's. Fellow captain Carter Hamill just missed an NCAA provisional mark in the 1500, where she finished 2nd but, despite using the 5k as a workout, managed to run an automatic qualifier and winning by well over a minute. Shauneen Garrahan grabbed dual victories on the day as she made her steeplechase debut with an NCAA provisional mark, and then came back to beat a loaded 800 field. Katie Moravec raced her first 5k since cross country and ran her fastest time ever, as she grabbed 3rd place breaking 18:30, while Margaret Davis made her 2005 track debut placing 6th in the same race. Keyonte Sutherland made her Amherst track debut and grabbed 6th in the 200 and anchored the 4x400 (Lee-Jay, Shauneen and Julia Rucker) to a very close runner-up finish. Alison Rodriguez grabbed a runner-up finish in the steeplechase, while Ginger Polich - despite running in training shoes rather then spikes due to a foot injury, grabbed Top 6 finishes in the both the 1500 and 800. Julia Rucker and Ellie Tarlow both grabbed Top 8 finishes in the 400 and then came back to race well in the 200 later, while Krissy Morin and Maria Millard were both busy competing in 4 events to start the qualification process for the heptathlon and despite a hurdle snafu in the trials (Maria's race was left 1 hurdle short and an athlete fell into Krissy's lane and knocked her hurdle 5 feet down the lane while at the same time falling into her lane providing an additional obstacle) they both had solid marks. Nzingha Tyehemba grabbed a 3rd place in the intermediate hurdles to go along with her solid run in the high hurdles earlier. Meg Ray had a solid double in the 1500 and then the 800, and Lauren Benson ran her best time of the year in the 800 as well. Laura Mortimer and Mattea Kramer raced solidly in the 1500.

The men were led by Mike page's victory in the 5000 despite battling the effects of a late week flu, and coming in behind him in 3rd place was Tomas Morrissey who grabbed the freshmen record in the process. Mike Harbus, Cooper Knowlton and Evan Guiney (racing to his new PR by nearly 20 seconds and winning the 2nd section convincingly) all had good first races of the season. John Babbott and Matt Katz went 2-3 in the 1500, while Rich Wilson, Rom Cabeza and Robert Boley followed behind - all running to new PR's. Sam Hayman, running out of the 2nd section of the 800, won his heat and placed 5th overall as he broke 1:59 - Babbott was just behind his in 6th place running 2:00 and Rom won his heat in another great race, and in the next section - it was the Rich Wilson and Dan Fisher ( returning to running after having played basketball this winter and then battling an achilles injury) battle as they finished within .2 seconds. Jon Ettinger grabbed a 9th place finish in the 400 and then replicated that finish in the 200. Nick Canevari grabbed a 3rd place in the discus throw, nearly hitting the 130 foot mark, but it was all just a prelude to his final event - the 4x400 anchor leg. Pat Benson and Steve Shashy, in a battle of football power, had strong races in the 200 and 400, while Geoff Stricsek got the rust off in the short sprints.

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