The men’s indoor track team just missed a top ten finish at this weekend’s Division III Championship meet at Tufts, and the women managed a 16th place finish at Smith College. Four individuals scored for each team, all of which finished in the top six for their events, led by Owen Kiely’s ’06 third place finish in the 3000-meter race. The men’s 4×800 squad placed third as well.
Kiely covered the 3000-meter distance in 8:35, just three seconds ahead of fifth place finisher Jeremy Solomon ’05, who ran his best race of the season to date.
“This was a positive meet for our guys, and Solley [Solomon] ran especially well,” said Nick Holowka ’07. “Open New England’s this Friday and Saturday will be huge, though, because three Wesleyan school records could fall, in the 5k, 4×800-meter relay and the distance medley relay.”
Matt Moss ’05, coming off his school record-breaking 2:31.12 time in the 1000-meter run, placed fifth in the same event a week later, coming in at 2:33.5, barely more than two seconds slower than his record. Jon King ’07 placed sixth in the 5,000-meter run, coming in with a time of 15:23 and solidifying himself as the most consistent sophomore performer of the indoor track season.
“I usually find it hard to get excited about winter track, but this year has been different,” King said. “Records are being broken and so many people are performing well that it’s hard not to be inspired by them and race better.”
The 4×800-meter relay squad finished third (7:56) to round out the points for the Cardinals, who were competing without several members of the team including captain Wes Fuhrman ’05, who has been down with an injury. Fuhrman plans to return for the outdoor track season.
Captain Courtney Quirin ’05 and Ellen Davis ’07 scored fourth place finishes for the women at their Division III Championship meet at Smith. Quirin, still recovering from an injury, raced 5000 meters in 18:05 and Davis covered 3000 meters in an impressive 10:15. Erin Smith ’06 also ran very well for the Red and Black, coming in fifth place just eleven seconds behind Quirin.
Rounding out the scoring for Wesleyan was Stephanie O’Brien ’08, who finished sixth in the 600-meter event (1:41). O’Brien has performed consistently well in her first season of college indoor track and hopes to continue this trend for the remainder of the indoor season and into the outdoor season, which starts after spring break.
Just two events remain for the indoor track teams. This weekend’s New England Division III Open Championship meet at Boston University may see several Cardinal records fall. Many of the top competitors in the country, from all three divisions, will be present, pushing the Cardinals to new heights. The final event for the red birds will be the ECAC Championship on March 5th.
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