Wesleyan’s track teams performed very well in front of a home crowd in Saturday’s Cardinal Invitational in Freeman Athletic Center. Despite injuries to Wesleyan’s top fall athletes, All-American captains Courtney Quirin ’05 and Wes Fuhrman ’05, and the fact that there was no team scoring, the Derrty Birds came to the meet with something to prove.
Mike Brady ’07 won the 16 entrant 5,000-meter race, finishing in a personal best of 15 minutes and 42 seconds, and Owen Kiely ’06 left 27 other runners behind, finishing on top in the 3,000-meter race in 8 minutes and 50 seconds.
“It was great to get out there and run, and I felt all around we had a great day,” said Brady. “Uncle Owie [Kiely] smoked some fools in the 3k. The 4×800 squad beat the field by almost an entire lap. Matt Moss ’05 had a big time race in the 600-meter race as well. Overall, it was a pretty good day, and it was great for me to get back on track and get a good time.”
Moss finished second in the 600-meter race (1:24), Jeremy Solomon ’05 finished third in the 1500-meter race (4:09), Chris Greene ’08 ran 800 meters in 1:58, good for fourth, and Nate Huddell ’07 placed fifth in the 1,000-meter event (2:41). Moss, Solomon, Greene, and Nick Gavelis ’08 took top honors in the 4x800m race with a time of 8:14.
“Despite the lack of competition, I think that our 4x800m squad ran a solid race. Props to Moss for running a gutsy anchor leg, breaking two minutes on a double with no one to run with and no reason to run that fast,” said Greene. “With two of our mid-distance guys breaking two minutes in their first 800s of the season [Greene and Moss], I look forward to getting some real competition at Boston University in two weeks, where we’ll most likely be fielding a hot DMR as well.”
On the women’s side, Megan Wise ’05, Cara Chebuske ’06, Ellen Davis ’07 and Brittany Morse ’08 covered the 4x800m event in 10:25, a full 15 seconds ahead of the second place squad. Chebuske and Davis also placed third in their individual events, as Chebuske ran 600 meters in 1:45 and Davis ran 1500 meters in 5:02. Stephanie O’Brien ’08 placed second in the 600-meter event (1:43). Jessica Barr ’07 placed second in the 800-meter event (2:34), Liz Colville ’05 placed second in the 3,000-meter event (10:46). Kristy Williams ’06 placed third in the weight throw (45′ 2 1/4“).
Next up for the Derrty Birds is Saturday’s Smith College Classic. The Cardinals will once again be without their captains, but Fuhrman and Quirin are determined to come back from their injuries as soon as possible, which will further improve the Cardinals down the stretch.
”It’s shaping up to be a great indoor season,“ Brady said.
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