Let it snow? Well, maybe not. It’s a fine sentiment for cozy evenings, less so for track meets.
While they may have been three states apart, Bulldogs at both the Colonial Relays and the Princeton Invitational faced cold weather — in fact, officials at the Colonial Relays cancelled Saturday’s events due to the snow on host William & Mary’s Williamsburg, Va., campus. Despite being split in half and struggling against the weather, both teams had the opportunity to evaluate individual strengths.
Stephany Reaves ’10 said that despite Saturday’s cancellation, the relays were still a success for the team.
“We were looking forward to racing again, but what we did on Friday was pretty good,” she said.
Reaves placed eighth in the 800-meter run, while her teammates Meredith Leenhouts ’08 and Kathryn Schleckser ’09 took fourth and sixth, respectively.
Erin Walsh ’10 said that Friday’s competition saw a number of impressive performances, particularly from Katrina Castille ’07, who finished second and third place in the 100- and 200-meter races, respectively. Walsh also noted a strong race from team captain Katie Dlesk ’07, who finished fifth in the 400-meter hurdles. Lindsay Donaldson ’08 finished sixth in the 1,500-meter race.
Jake Gallagher ’09, who took eighth place in the men’s 5,000-meter race, said he was disappointed with the weather.
“Across the board — whether they were looking for redemption or looking to continue a good weekend — everyone was sorry that we didn’t get to race Saturday,” Gallagher said.
In any case, the men’s team had a number of respectable results. Brandon Giles ’09 ran the 100-meter dash in 10.76 seconds, finishing fourth, while Victor Cheng ’08 took seventh place. Dan O’Brien ’08 qualified for finals in the 110-meter hurdles — which was among the Saturday races canceled due to weather.
Meanwhile, farther north, the members of the men’s team running in Princeton were also feeling the chill.
“You want to be sweating out there, but it was 32 degrees the whole time,” said Sam Fox ’09, who placed second in the high jump at Princeton.
Fox said the Princeton meet is usually a good way to “see where you are,” but that the wintry weather made this year’s event less helpful than usual.
Team captain John Langhauser ’07 said the cold weather hindered the team’s performance. Nonetheless, Langhauser qualified for the NCAA meet and finished first in the shot put with a throw of 17.01 meters. Langhauser said that, overall, the team’s weekend in New Jersey was somewhat lackluster, but he did note that Jeff Lachman ’09, whose mark of 50.07 was good for first place in the discus, “threw really well.”
The women’s team’s delegation to Princeton had a solid showing as well. Erica Davis ’07 was a particular standout, winning the discus with a throw of 46.64 meters and taking second place in the shot put. Her teammate Ashley Nolet ’07 pole-vaulted 3.50 meters to finish fourth in her event.
Both teams are gearing up for next weekend’s meet at Brown, which will in turn serve as preparation for the Harvard-Yale match up. Fox noted that last year, the men’s team beat their Crimson rivals by 66 points, so the meet “should not be a problem.”