Track and field scores high at Trinity’s Bantam Invitational

After a Spring Break trip to the land of the Devil Rays, retirement communities and sunny weather, Wesleyan’s track and field teams made the short drive on Saturday to the city of wind, insurance and cold. Despite discomfort, cramps and lack of feeling in the extremities, the Cardinals placed well at the Bantam Invitational in Hartford, hosted by Trinity College.

Particularly impressive were the female competitors, who captured 14 top-seven finishes on the day. In all, Wesleyan claimed first place in three events, as Lynn Edmonds ’11 won the 200m and 400m and Fotinis Xenidis ’11 won, yet again, in javelin.

“The meet went alright, considering the cold and windy conditions,” said Ravenna Neville ’10, who was one of five Cardinals to place in the top 11 of the women’s 1500m. “Mostly it’s the wind that affects you. It forces you to work harder.”

Fortunately, everyone played in the same weather, and the women’s team did not seem to be too affected. Tameir Holder ’08 just missed a first-place finish in the 100m dash, giving up a mere two-hundredths of a second to Sharikka Finley-Morse of the University of Massachusetts-Lowell in the finals despite having the best qualifying time. Sokki Chamm ’11 came up six inches short of the winning distance in the long jump and had to settle for second, as well. Kiran Sheffrin ’10 and Hannah Overton ’11 also came close to winning the 100m hurdles and 800m run, respectively, as each took third in her event.

Xeinidis’ javelin distance of 122-8 was more than 20 feet short of her record-setting toss in Tampa, but—given the conditions—was still good enough for first in the Bantam Invitational. Liz Wheatley ’09 set a personal record in the 800m with a time of 2:26.42, which was good enough for seventh in the event.

The men’s team did not fare as well on Saturday. The highlight of the meet was Captain Sam Grover ’08’s high jump of 6-0, which earned him second place. Stalwarts Mike Moody ’10 and Tommie Lark ’11 were generally absent from the leaderboards. However, Tom Akita ’10 and Dan Manuyag ’10 each took fourth place in their respective events: 100m and 10000m. For the weekend, the men’s team had 10 top-seven finishes, but only one top-three finish compared to the women’s seven.

“We are a pretty cohesive team,” Neville said. “There’s not really any rivalry between the men and women’s teams.”

That cohesiveness will be key as the team looks to rebound at the Coast Guard Invitational in New London this weekend.