The top Wesleyan indoor track members competed at the New England Division III Championships this weekend with several members putting on impressive performances.
The women, who competed at M.I.T., finished an impressive eighth out of the 23 teams competing. They were led by Jenna Flateman ’04, who finished in second place with a lightning fast time of: 07.21 in the 55-meter dash finals. Even her trial run was amazing, as it was finished just slightly faster than her final run (:07.20). Despite having one of the fastest Division III times in the country this year, she finished as a close second. Flateman also placed sixth in the 200-meter race and helped the 4x200m relay squad to a third place finish. Esther Schlegel ’04, Morgan Philbin ’04 and Abby Austin ’07 were the other three members of the relay squad.
“Definitely having Jenna on the team was the main factor for our success,” Austin said. “Everyone ran well and we had good hand offs.”
In other action, Jen Brown ’04 took second place in the pentathlon, Schlegel placed fifth in the 55-meter hurdles, Ellen Davis ’07 placed fourth in the 3,000-meter race, and Erin Smith ’06 finished fifth in the 5,000-meter run.
“[Ellen and Jen] were running at the end of the meet and everyone came together and rooted them on as they finished,” Austin said. “It was a great bonding experience.”
The men, who competed at Bowdoin College and finished 17th out of 21 teams, were led by standout Pat Moffett ’04. Moffett demolished a team record by finishing the 55-meter hurdles in an amazing: 07.60, capturing the 2004 New England Division III Title. In the process, he also provisionally qualified for the NCAA Division III Indoor Championships.
“I ran my best race ever at the meet this weekend,” Moffett said. “It had been brewing all season and the top finally popped off…and it was basically over as soon as it started. I had run the perfect race and my fastest time ever. I just wish I was paying attention when they called my name to stand at the top of the podium.”
Mshongwe Crawford ’04 finished eighth in the triple jump competition, scoring some points for the Cardinals. Owen Kiely ’06 also finished eighth in his event, the 3,000-meter run.
“The real story from Saturday is Pat Moffett,” Crawford said. “Moff is a baaaaaaadd white boy. The race was almost unfair to the other competitors. It was as if the Bowdoin hurdle crew forgot to put hurdles in his lane and he just ran straight into nationals and the record books… again. He ran a 7.60 in the 55-meter hurdles, which is faster than most people run the 55-meter dash in. I’m sure that if I had not already competed before he ran, his performance would have inspired me to do better in my event.”
Next week, the top Cardinals on the indoor track teams will represent Wesleyan at the New England Open in Boston.
Leave a Reply