Saturday found the men and women of Colgate’s track team running in circles — literally. Both teams sent a select group of participants to the Upstate Challenge hosted by Cornell University. Additionally, each team finished fourth overall, with host Cornell taking both titles.

The men were led by senior Scott DeRoo’s runner-up finish in the 800m run. He clinched eight team points for the Raiders with his time of 2:00.29. Less than a second later came first-year Jeremy Fisher in third, who credits DeRoo with aiding his finish.

“The 800 is very unique in that you have to have the speed of a sprinter and the strength of a distance runner,” Fisher said. “I had a decent race on Saturday because I was able to fall in right behind Scott, who went out at the pace that I wanted.”

Also helping the men were seniors John Gillespie and Sean Field. Gillespie covered his 1,000m distance in 2:32.32 to land fifth place. Field walked away from the weight throw with a fifth place finish of 15.22m.

However, the performance of the day came from the women. Sophomore Rita Santibanez broke the school’s shot-put record, which she set just over a year ago. Santibanez’s 13.6m throw bested her previous record by three and a half inches and secured a spot in the ECAC Championships.

“It feels good to have qualified for ECAC’s so early; it’s definitely a weight off my shoulders,” Santibanez said. “Now I can just relax, train hard, and throw even farther.”

Adding to Santibanez’s performance were seniors Hannah Falling and Meaghan McAnaney and sophomore Curry Knox. Falling took fifth in the mile run and third in the 3,000m.

McAnaney found her own success with a personal best time of 18:49 in the 5,000m, while Knox clocked in with a time of 27:09 in the 200m; the seventh-fastest in Colgate history. The two fourth place finishes gained the Raiders four points each.

This weekend finds the Raiders at home, hosting the Class of ’32 Invitational on Saturday. Fisher encourages spectators to stop by and catch a race or two.

“Since this is our only home track meet this year, we would love support from students and faculty,” said Fisher. “It is inspiring to have classmates out there cheering for us.”

The action will all start a little before 11:00 am Saturday in the Charles H. Sanford Field House.