On Friday April 15 and Saturday April 16, the Colgate men’s and women’s track and field teams traveled to separate loca­tions to participate in highly competi­tive meets. The men’s squad journeyed all the way to Knoxville, Tennessee to take part in the Sea Ray Relays at the Univer­sity of Tennessee, while several athletes on the women’s team headed over to the Bison Invite, hosted by Patriot League foe Bucknell University.

Despite moving hundreds of miles to the South, the men’s squad was hampered by nasty weather at the prestigious meet.

“It ended up pouring rain on the first day of competition and was extremely windy the second day,” senior Dan Glea­son said. “Times across the board for our team and the meet in general were very slow.”

That said, several runners excelled de­spite the adverse conditions, posting per­sonal-best times at the competition. In the 800-meter run, first-year JT Ahearn post­ed a personal record time of 1:58. Senior middle distance runner Andy Smith was competitive in the event until dropping out with a knee injury.

“[The injury] is a blow to the team, because he’s the anchor leg on the 4×800, which is probably our most competitive event,” Gleason said.

Though the 4×800 squad was set back by Smith’s injury, the Raiders’ 4×100 squad performed rather well, posting a time of 44.6 seconds. Colgate, as has been the case for much of this season, saw a great deal of success in the long distance events. In the steeplechase, sophomore Chris John­son finished just seconds off of his per­sonal best. Johnson has only competed in the event at a handful of meets, yet he has impressed each time. In the 5000-meter run, sophomore long-distance runner Tim Phelps ran a personal best, clocking in at 15:41. Though the Raiders struggled with weather and fell into the middle of the standings when faced with such staunch DI competition, many runners posted impres­sive times and represented Colgate well.

The women’s team was faced with similar miserable conditions when it traveled to Lewisburg, Pennsylvania to take part in the Bison Invite. As was the case with the men, many athletes were slowed by the less than ideal condi­tions, but that did not prevent several individuals from shining on a personal level.

One of Colgate’s most notable per­formances came from none other than Elise DeRoo, the junior long distance runner who has led the team to a solid spring season. In the 5000-meter run, DeRoo placed eighth overall, snapping the tape in 16:55.52. Her final time was good enough to qualify her for the ECAC Championships, which are coming up in several weeks.

The Raiders also qualified three other women for the ECACs in the 10,000-meter run. Junior Kelly Cattano placed fifteenth overall with a final time of 36:54.28. Cat­tano was followed in seventeenth place by senior Stacey Marion (37:08.32), and in twenty-first place by senior captain Julie Tarallo (37:37.67). In the 4×100 relay, Colgate’s ‘A’ squad of senior Emily Hep­worth, first-year Jamie King-Prunty, junior Alexandra Atkinson and senior Michele Miller placed first in its group, posting an impressive time of 50.45 seconds. Finally, in the 400-meter dash, Atkinson placed second in her group with a final time of 59.89. The time was just .3 seconds behind the first-place finisher.

Next weekend, the men’s team will head off to Holy Cross to take part in a meet hosted by the rival Crusaders.

“The Holy Cross meet is always a good opportunity for some guys to get in some speed work and some fast times before [the Patriot League Championships],” Gleason said.

The women will return to action next weekend as well when they travel to Ithaca, New York to participate in the Cornell Invite hosted by none other than Cornell University.