Advertisement

M., W. Track Take Second in Cold Outdoor Meets

PULLING AWAY
NO WRITER ATTRIBUTED

Brown and Dartmouth hurdlers distance themselves from Harvard’s Amanda Shanklin and Eleanor Thompson in the women’s 100-meter hurdles on Saturday. Shanklin placed fifth in the race and Thompson placed sixth.

The heat of fast, blazing feet warmed the ground at the McCurdy track despite the cold windy air on Saturday, as the men’s and women’s track teams each placed second in their season’s first outdoor Ivy meets against Brown and Dartmouth.

“Running today was tough, it was freezing,” said junior sprinter Chris Lambert, who won the 200-meter dash. “The wind is in your face coming down the straight.”

While the weather conditions were not ideal for the Crimson athletes, both teams participated in heated competitions, with both teams losing by narrow margins. The Dartmouth men won with 91 points, followed by Harvard with 85 and Brown with just 27. On the women’s side, Brown edged out Harvard 77-73 and Dartmouth brought up the rear with 42.

“We still ran fast, considering the wind,” said co-captain Kobie Fuller. “But everybody came fired up and the cold didn’t phase us.”

Harvard Men

Advertisement

One jump cost the men a victory on Saturday—a false start leading to the disqualification of Lambert from the 100-meter dash.

“I got thrown out of the race and it was my birthday,” Lambert said.

Falling to Dartmouth 91-85, this split second action did have lasting consequences.

According to several observers, a Dartmouth runner actually committed the false start, and he had a big grin on his face after Lambert was called out.

Lambert, whose personal best in the 100 is nearly a full-second faster than Saturday’s 11.13 second winning time, could have earned Harvard five points with the victory and reduced Dartmouth’s total by three had he won the race. So instead of winning the meet 90-88, Harvard came out on the losing end.

“An unfortunate thing happened on the men’s side with the disqualification of one of our best sprinters,” Coach Frank Haggerty said. “That lost us the meet.”

While Lambert’s disqualification was questionable, the outstanding performances of several athletes was not.

Lambert took the lead role of a Crimson one-two-three finish in the 200 meters—along with Fuller and sophomore Brandon Smith—with a time of 21.69 seconds.

Fuller also sprinted his way to a first-place finish with a time of 47.84 seconds in the 400-meter dash.

“The guy [Tyler Haney] from Dartmouth was a threat but I beat him by a second so I think he’s pretty scared now,” Fuller said.

Advertisement