The indoor track and field teams traveled to Hamilton College last Saturday but were unable to yield the results they had hoped for.
"We hit a home run [in Boston]. We had a little letdown from [that] meet. I think they were still tired … a lot didn't even run this weekend," said assistant coach Mike Woods. "Other schools had letdowns as well." Woods referenced Haverford College's weak performance in the men's distance medley relay; that school's time is second only to Geneseo.
Senior Bobby Henchen and junior Alyssa Smith, however, broke through and posted personal records. Henchen won the 3,000 meters with a time of 8 minutes, 52.65 seconds, just a few seconds shy of the Eastern College Athletic Conference standard. Smith won the mile, setting a 5:15.54 record that was less than a second short of the ECAC standard. Henchen and Smith hold the third and second fastest times, respectively, in the SUNYAC this season.
"Bobby and Alyssa did not show any ill effects of the long trip," Woods said. "They survived the Boston hangover."
Sophomore Esther Lok contributed another key performance, placing first in the 3,000 with a time of 11:03, short of the ECAC qualifying time of 10:50. "She needed somebody to get that time," Woods said. "I was happy for her because she won, but … I was really pulling for her to get that time."
The hurdlers also gave strong performances. Woods noted, "All of [the hurdlers] had [personal records] except one. Every hurdler improved." Senior Dustin Rabideau and junior Jessica Jaroszko highlighted the hurdlers' performances with first place finishes.
In the field, juniors Julie Cook and Keisha Stokes, sophomore Jessica Shumway and freshman Carly Biondi all hit the five foot mark in the high jump, a feat Woods called "good and pretty impressive." Senior Maria Barbaglia placed third and set a new personal record of 40 feet, 1 inch. Barbaglia moved up to sixth in the SUNYAC.
On Sunday, three athletes participated in the Ithaca College Pentathlon I. Junior Colin Keenan took fourth of 11 competitors with a school record of 3,025 points. Keenan stood out in the high jump, earning 740 points with a jump of 1.93 meters. Keenan's outstanding performance earned him SUNYAC Men's Field Athlete of the Week. Junior Andrew Jehle placed ninth with 2,696 points. On the women's side, freshman Carrie Levinn placed 10th with 2,127 points, including 555 for a 1.44 meter jump.
The Knights are back in action this Saturday at Cornell University. Woods said that nearly the entire team will travel to the highly competitive meet at Cornell. Top teams from Colgate University, Binghamton University, University of Toronto and Marist College are expected to participate. This is the second to last chance for the track and field team to achieve SUNYAC standards before the championship on Feb. 26.