Last week the men’s track and field team competed admirably in the annual Sam Howell Invitational, hosted by Princeton University. The women trekked south in order to compete in the Colonial Relays, hosted by the College of William and Mary. Both teams had their shares of impressive performances and signs of future promise.

“Last week’s meet was a four-way, very intense meet,” Men’s Head Coach Art McKinnon said. “We really held our own, so we came out of that feeling good.”

Indeed, after holding their own at Navy, the Raiders competed with confidence the following week in Princeton. Sophomore Lyle Tolli, as well as senior Sean Baumann, both qualified for the IC4A championships in the 1500-meter run and the 800-meter run respectively. Baumann stole the victory in that run.

“The big thing was that Sean Baumann 800, as he beat a lot of good guys,” McKinnon said.

Additionally, the 4 X 100-meter relay team also qualified with a time of 42.14 – a season best. The members of that relay included seniors Terrence Dilworth, Thomas Dilworth, Andy Holway and junior Mike Walden. First-year Ed Sheridan lit up the track in the 10,000-meter run, as he finished the 6.2 mile race in 31:28.06. It was his first time running the race. Sheridan broke the Colgate first-year record by a whopping 25 seconds, and posted the quickest time yet this season in the Patriot League.

“He [Sheridan] is a key person and right now he is our number two guy behind [sophomore] Lyle Tolli,” McKinnon said. “We have a very special group of freshman…the deepest freshman class we have ever had. We are going to contend for more than sixth or seventh place in the Patriot League Championships [in the future].”

Tolli had a great performance in the 1500-meter run. His time of 3:48.59 was a personal best, and he barely missed out of an NCAA Regional qualifying standard.

“Of course Lyle Tolli being just a sophomore is scary considering the level he is at,” McKinnon said. But the men were not the only ones who had an eventful weekend.

Escaping the cold weather that the Raiders had faced in the previous meet, Head Coach Laura Nardelli led her team south. Senior Elizabeth Kennedy and first-year Stacey Marion both ran strong in the 5,000-meter run. They finished in eighth and seventeenth place respectively out of 43 runners total. Rookie Michelle Miller made improvements, shedding two seconds from her previous time in the 400-meter run. The 800-meter relay squad was nothing to laugh at either. The tripod of junior Curry Knox, first-year Emily Hepworth and Miller finished the race in 1:47.55, the third-fastest time in Colgate history.

Last Tuesday, the men’s and women’s track team traveled to Clinton, New York to face Hamilton College in a non-scoring meet. Colgate beat Hamilton in 16 of the 22 events in which the two schools played against each other. First-years Ed Boulat, Andy Smith, Dan Gleason and Eric Sause broke the 38-year old Colgate 4 X 800 freshman record with a time of 7:56.24. The other men’s champions on this day included senior Jeff Tufts (1,500 m), senior Andy Smith(400 m), senior Terrence Dilworth, senior Phil Natoli(400 m hurdles) and senior Thomas Dilworth(200 m).

The women also fared well. The 4 X 100-meter relay team of sophomore Ashley Niness, juniors Ashley Mecone and Curry Knox, and first-year Michelle Miller broke a school record with an excellent time of 49.69. Elsewhere, senior Kathryn Marvel(1,500 m), Knox(100 m hurdles), Niness(400 m), Miller(100m, 200m), first-year Noelle Edmonson(800 m), sophomore Sarah Chabal(long jump), sophomore Alisandra Denton(high jump), sophomore Lauren Abuouf(discus throw, shot put) and first-year Kristen Meisner(javelin throw) won their events.

Both the men and women return to action next week. The men will go to Hamilton College on Tuesday, April 15 before going to Worcester, Massachusetts on Saturday, April 19, for the Crusader Cup. The women will go to Bucknell for the Bison Invitational next weekend.