WILLIAMSTOWN, MA — Taking advantage of the warm weather upon their return to Williamstown from balmy Wilmington, North Carolina, the men’s track and field team opened their outdoor season in earnest on Saturday when they hosted the Williams Relays. The last three weeks have provided ample opportunity for the Ephs to get in a solid block of training, and they showed off their fitness by posting a myriad of personal bests and championship meet qualifying times while saving their best efforts for a few weeks down the road.

The 3000-meter steeplechase kicked off the track festivities, and the extremely popular event among spectators once again provided excitement and drama. The steeplechase has a long tradition at Williams, with the Ephs using their superior hurdling technique to clear the seven water barriers with great efficiency, allowing the other teams to set the early pace and picking them off as their form deteriorates over the last 1000 meters. Stephen Wills ’07 executed these race tactics perfectly, and showed he has not lost any of the form that made him a standout in this event last spring. Wills hung back for most of the race, easing himself in to a solid pace, but closed remarkably well over the last 400-meters, kicking down a Middlebury runner who had led the entire race up to that point and extended his lead to the tape. He crossed the line in 9:42, an excellent early season mark. Grant Burgess ’08 also posted a personal best time of 10:22, and should continue to improve as he progresses through to championship season.

The two other middle-distance races provided equal amounts of excitement for Eph fans, especially the one-mile run. In the first heat the pack went out slow, covering the first lap in 71 seconds as the competitors jostled for position, and the leaders came through the half-mile in 2:19. As several runners got tangled up, a group of four Ephs began to pick up the pace, with Mike Davitian ’07 coming out on top with a last half-mile of 2:05 and final time of 4:24. Davitian has finally gotten in some consistent training over the last few weeks, and the Ephs will count on him, runner-up finisher Bill Ference ’07, and third place finisher Sean Hyland ’07 to provide major points if they want to defend their NESCAC title.

The 800-meter run also turned into an exciting race, with a pair of first-years leading the charge for the Ephs. Chris Beeler ’08 and Mack Brickley ’08 finished second and third in the two-lap event, with Beeler showing off his speed by blasting from far back in the pack with two-hundred meters to go. He broke the tape in 1:57.8, with Brickley following close behind in 1:58.6.

John Symanski ’06 led the way for the sprinters with a pair of victories in individual events, taking first place in the 100 and 200 meter dashes with marks of 10.82 and 21.88 respectively. Andrew Arons ’08 placed third in the 200-meter dash with his time of 22.44, closely followed by Max Mokgosi ’06, who placed fourth with a 22.48 clocking. The Ephs also collected two relay victories, in the 4x100 and 4x200 meter events.

The field event performers also had a solid opening weekend, as they emerged victorious in several events. In the hammer throw J.J. O’Brien ’05 hit a mark of 44.54 meters to place first overall, and co-captain Caleb Bliss ’05 placed second with his mark of 43.41 meters. Bliss doubled back in the discus and shot put, launching the disc 44.48 meters for first place and tossing the shot 13.53 meters for fifth place. Andrew DeSalvo ’08 also had an excellent afternoon, claiming third place in the shot with his put of 13.68 meters, and doubling back in the javelin.

For the jumpers, Markus Burns ’06 led the way as usual by picking up victories in both the high jump and triple jump. In the vertical event he cleared 6’ 4” while in the horizontal bound he leapt 13.34 meters. Branden Mirach ’07 took second place in the long jump with his mark of 6.50 meters. In the 5000-meter run Neal Holtschulte ’06 took home the victory in 15:09, while the rest of the Eph competitors streamed in shortly thereafter, with Corey Levin ’08 placing third overall in 15:50 and Jim Clayton ’08 taking fourth in 16:05.

While in Wilmington the Ephs competed in two meets, the first hosted by Virginia Commonwealth University on March 19th and the second hosted by the University of North Carolina-Wilmington on March 25th and 26th. The highlight of the second meet came as seven Ephs took to the track at dusk to compete in the 10,000 meter run, a twenty-five lap, 6.2 mile journey. All seven Ephs hit the qualifying standard for the Div. III New England Championships, with the most outstanding performances coming from Holtschulte, Morgan Seybert ’08, Levin, and Colin Carroll ’07. For the rest of the Ephs these two weeks consisted of one of the most strenuous training periods of the year, and most of the marks reflected their tired legs or arms. The Ephs have started rounding into form at just the right time, however, as they only have one more week before championship season kicks off. They will travel to Amherst on April 23rd for Little Three’s, Colby for NESCAC’s on April 30th, and Springfield for New England’s on May 6th. Next weekend the Ephs will head to UMASS-Lowell for their last tune-up for the championships. Go Ephs!

Here are the results of the "Williams Fastest Teams" competition, run by other athletic teams at Williams. 4x100 women 1. Nordic Ski 56.63 2. Soccer 57.36 3. Basketball 63.96 4x100 men 1. Basketball 47.83 2. Soccer 48.13 3. Swimming 50.06 4. Squash 51.15 5. Nordic Ski 52.45

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Click here for link to field events