Track and Field Celebrates V-Day a Week Early

Both the men’s and women’s track and field teams had good meets on Saturday when they competed in the St. Valentine Invitational at Boston University. The men’s team was nothing less than impressive. Similarly, the women’s team had some outstanding performances, led by first-year Stacey Marion and sophomore Alisandra Denton. All around, the Raiders competed tenaciously, reflected by the day’s achievements. Colgate ended Saturday with five qualifying times for the IC4A and 16 personal-best records in the bag.

“It was a pretty special day,” Men’s Head Coach Art McKinnon said. “The training hasn’t changed a whole lot, but there is a dynamic among the men’s team which is bringing a lot to the meet. As a coach, that is fun to watch.”

Sophomore Lyle Tolli, who has performed extraordinarily well this season, did not disappoint in Boston. He took home the bronze in the mile with a time of 4:06, which was good enough to qualify for the IC4A Championship. Tolli also qualified for the IC4A’s in the 1,000-meter run and he now holds the record for the second-fastest mile in Colgate history. Senior Thomas Dilworth qualified for the IC4A in the 400-meter dash with a time of 48.90, a personal-best. Dilworth continued to make his presence known as a member of the record-breaking 4×400-meter relay team. He, along with teammates junior Mike Walden, sophomore Charles Green and senior Andy Holway, smashed the previous Colgate record set in 1968. The Raiders also qualified for the IC4A in that event, and Holway qualified for the IC4A 500-meter dash.

The big achievement for the women’s team was Marion’s 5,000-meter run. The fabulous first-year broke the rookie record for the event and now boasts the second-best time in Colgate history. Denton broke another Colgate all-time record with a pole vault jump of 2.95 meters. First-year Michelle Miller performed well in the 200-meter dash and she now sports the second-fastest time in Colgate history for that event. In the 4×400-meter relay, Miller, along with sophomores Sarah Chabal, Ashley Niness and first-year Noelle Edmonson, posted the fastest time since 2005.

The women will compete in the Lafayette/Rider Invite on Saturday before heading to the Patriot League Championships at Bucknell, which will be held from Friday, February 22nd to Sunday, February 24th. The men do not have any further meets scheduled until Patriot Leagues.