Despite squaring off against schools more than double its size, the Colgate women’s indoor track team took fourth place out of six teams at the Cornell Upstate Challenge on January 24. The Big Red dominated in all aspects of their home meet, coming away with 294 points to more than double the point total of runner-up Buffalo.

The Raiders racked up 39 team points on the day to finish right behind Syracuse (56 points) and ahead of Ithaca College (23) and SUNY Cortland (15). Sophomore sprinter Michele Miller was one of the main reasons for the Raiders’ success on Saturday, as she collected eight points with her second-place finish in the 400-meter dash.

Senior sprinters Curry Knox and Ashley Mecone finished fourth and fifth in the 60-meter dash with times of 7.97 and 8.16. Knox, who broke the school record in the 55-meter dash at the Syracuse Invitational, clocked a personal-best 26.59 in the 200-meter hurdles and also placed fifth in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 9.28.

Other Raiders who recorded points were rookie distance runners Chelsea Burns, who ran a 5:13.07 mile to finish fourth, and Elise DeRoo, who finished sixth in the 3,000-meter with a 10:40.24. Senior Jessica Kielty finished the 5,000-meter run in 18:46.42 to finish sixth.

On the men’s side, the Raiders finished in sixth place in a meet in which they were overshadowed by Cornell and Buffalo, who took first and second place respectively. Colgate did manage to accure 27 points, and finished just 16 points behind from third-place Syracuse, demonstrating that the Raiders are right in the thick of things.

Though Colgate has a deep lineup highlighted by a slew of freshmen and sophomores, a star has yet to emerge from the group.

“Hopefully in the next couple of weeks a few of us can step up and become consistent top-3 finishers and help us score the big points needed to compete at the bigger meets like Yale, Boston and Patriot League Championships,” sophomore Ed Boulat said, who ran the 1000-meter in 2:36.30 to place seventh.

Middle distance runners in sophomores Boulat, Dan Gleason and Dan Schwaibold appear more than ready for some top-3 finishes in the near future. Gleason finished fourth in the mile with a 4:18.26, while Schwaibold placed fourth in the 800-meter with a 2:00.62.

“The middle-distance events are definitely the strong point of the team,” Boulat said.

The men’s and women’s indoor track teams will host the annual Katie Almeter Memorial Class of ’32 Invitational this Saturday at 10 a.m. at the Sanford Field House, a meet that is “always a huge deal for our team,” according to Boulat.

“We expect not only to win the meet but to put on a great show for family and friends. It’s also our last ‘tune-up’ meet before we begin a three-week stretch of bigger and more competitive meets in which we’re hoping to produce many personal bests and qualifying times,” Boulat said.