The men and women of Colgate’s track teams traveled to Boston University last Saturday to compete in the St. Valentine Invitational. With most of its events filled with 100 competitors or better, it was one of largest meets the teams have competed in this season and acted as a last tune up before this weekend’s Patriot League championships.

Some familiar faces led the men. Senior Michael Hanlon covered his 1600m race in 4:07.49, good enough for sixth place out of the 125-person field. Hanlon qualified for the IC4A Championships, a feat he accomplished last weekend in the 3,000m.

Also posting qualifying times were senior John Gillespie and junior Thomas Dilworth. Gillespie crossed the tape of the 1,000m in ninth place overall with a time of 2:29.12. Dilworth breezed through his two lap 400m dash in 49.38; the fifth fastest time in Raider history.

Right on Gillespie’s heels was senior Scott DeRoo, whose time of 2:30.63 guaranteed him 17th. Classmate Geoff Bean swiped 22nd in the 200m in 22.43 and twenty-eighth in the 55m in 6.67. Junior Terrance Dilworth also competed in the 200m, finishing with a time of 22.65.

A slew of seniors led the lady Raiders. Liz Crowley shaved over 30 seconds off her season best to finish 17th in the mile with a time of 5:03.33. Classmate and race mate Hannah Failing grabbed 20th in 5:07.7. Nicole Christoforo’s time of 1:17.17 in the 500m secured her sixth place overall. Christoforo also placed 24th in the 800m, recording a time of 2:18.76.

For the sophomore class, Curry Knox covered 200m in 26.96; the fifth-fastest time ever recorded for Colgate. Rita Santibanez had another good week, emerging with ninth place in the shot put and 17th in the weight throw. Her throws were 42-00.75, and 43-10.0, respectively.

“It’s such a bigmeet with a lot of big competition.” Santibanez said. “It is intimidating, but you try to just focus on you and what you need to do.

Saturday takes the Raiders to Army for the Patriot League Championships, where the teams look to do some serious damage by bringing home top-three team finishes.

“We really want to get out there and show the league that we can compete at a high level, with several individuals contending for patriot league titles,” DeRoo said. “This year could be one of our strongest ever.”