On Friday, February 23rd and Sunday, February 25th, the Mammoths competed at the Division III New England Championships. It was a historic weekend for the Mammoths, as both the Women's and Men's Teams placed Third, equalling their best finish ever at the meet! We also had two School Records at the meet, first, Eliza Cardwell broke her own School Record in the 60 Hurdles, running a time of 8.64 seconds! At the end of the meet, the team of Ava Zielinski, Bella Lozier, Piper Lentz and Zoë Marcus broke the School Record in the 4x800 Relay, running a time of 9:14, breaking a record that stood since 2006!
Anaya Thomas on the horizontal jumps runway
Pentathlon
The meet started on Friday with the Pentathlon, which Anaya Thomas and Trintje Nydam competed in.
First in the Pentathlon is the 60 Hurdles, where Anaya Thomas tied her personal best in the event, running a time of 9.35 seconds! Trintje Nydam ran a season best time of 9.45 seconds!
The High Jump is the second event in the Pentathlon, and Anaya Thomas won the event, clearing 1.61 meters (5' 3.25")! Trintje Nydam cleared 1.34 meters (4' 4.75").
In the Shot Put, Anaya set a personal best, throwing a mark of 8.95 meters (29' 4.5")! Trintje threw her second best throw of the season, throwing 7.76 meters (25' 5.5")!
In the Long Jump, Anaya won with a personal best jump of 5.16 meters (16' 11.25")! Trintje jumped a season best jump 4.51 meters (14' 9.75")!
In the Pentathlon concluding 800 meter race, Anaya ran a huge personal best time of 2:42! Trintje ran a time of 2:49.
With the points tallied from the five events, Anaya placed third in a personal best score of 3,198 points, earning the team 6 points! Trintje placed eleventh in her second best point total of the season with 2,555 points!
Henry Dennen anchoring the Distance Medley Relay
5,000 Meters
The 5,000 was the first event on the track of the day, and Claire Callon won the first heat in a great race! Claire sat in second place behind her competitors for the first half of the race before taking the lead in the second half of the race and then pulled away from the competition lap by lap to win in a season best time of 18:01 and placed 11th overall! Running in the faster heat, Daphne Witherell set a personal best, running a time of 18:13 to place 14th! Running in the same heat as Claire, Allison Lounsbury ran a strong race, placing 17th overall in a time of 18:29!
In the Men's 5,000, Harrison Dow had a stellar race, placing fourth in a big personal best time of 14:46, earning 5 points for the team! Theo Dassin placed 9th in his second best time of the season, running a time of 14:52!
Distance Medley Relay
The Women's Distance Medley relay was next on the track, and Ava Zielinski led off for the Mammoths, running the 1,200 meter leg. Ava moved from fourth to second place over the course of the final three laps of the race, using a great kick to hand off to Mads Rabb for the 400 leg in second place! Mads ran a great leg, holding the team's position in second place and extending the Mammoths lead on third place. She passed the baton to Emma Vatnsdal in second place and Emma competed hard with the competition around her for the 800 meter leg, battling to hand off to Bella Lozier for the anchor 1600 meter leg in third place. Bella quickly moved the Mammoths into second place and held her position for the rest of the race, crossing the finish line in second place in a time of 12:24! By placing second, the relay team earned 8 points for the team!
Will Nagy led off for the Mammoths in the Men's Distance Medley Relay, getting out hard to put the Mammoths in the lead and fought hard to maintain the lead to hand off to Gent Malushaga for the 400 leg even for the lead. Gent, who was a last minute addition to the relay, got out hard and gave it his all to hand off in third place! Josh Thomas ran a patient 800 leg, running in third place for the first three laps of the race and used an incredible finishing kick on the last lap to put the Mammoths in the lead as he handed off to Henry Dennen for the anchor leg! Henry ran a fantastic 1600 leg, never relinquishing the lead for the Mammoths and responded to several challenges from the competition, pulling away to win the race by 5 seconds in a season best time of 10:05 for the Mammoths! The win earned 10 points for the team!
Mia Bawendi clearing a bar in the Pole Vault
Long Jump
On the infield, the Women's and Men's Long Jumps were being contested concurrently, and both the Women and Men had a strong day in the event!
Needing just three jumps, Eliza Cardwell won the Long Jump with a personal best jump of 5.68 meters (18' 7.75"), earning 10 points for the team! Muffie Mazambani placed sixth with a season best jump of 5.42 meters (17' 9.5"), earning 3 points for the team! Anastasia Ioppolo placed ninth, jumping 5.17 meters (16' 11.5")! Leah Smith placed 14th, jumping 5.10 meters (16' 8.75")!
In the Men's Long Jump, Yeob Kim placed second with a huge season best jump of 6.99 meters (22' 11.25"), earning 8 points for the team! Adrian Friedman placed third with a season best jump of 6.94 meters (22' 9.25"), earning 6 points for the team! Kaleb Barrett placed eighth in a personal best jump of 6.66 meters (21' 10.25"), earning one point for the team! Michael Abbey placed 16th, jumping 6.31 meters (20' 8.5").
Pole Vault
Alec Kuzyk had a huge day in the Pole Vault, improving upon his previous personal best by more than five inches as he placed fifth by clearing 4.54 meters (14' 10.75"), earning four points for the team!
The Women's Pole Vault was contested later in the meet, and Mia Bawendi placed eighth by clearing 3.53 meters (11' 7") on her first attempt in a deep competition! Payton Sorensen set a personal best, clearing 3.38 meters (11' 1") to place 14th!
Weight Throw
Charlie Spurrell placed 10th in the Weight Throw, throwing 15.84 meters (51' 11.75"). David Brown placed 16th, throwing a mark of 15.26 meters (50' 0.75") and Hugh Lemmon-Kishi placed 22nd, throwing a mark of 14.53 meters (47' 8").
Eliza Cardwell competing in the 60 Meter Hurdles
60 Meter Hurdles
After the conclusion of the 5,000 and Distance Medley Relay, the track was lowered for the 60 Meter Hurdles and 60 Meter Dash.
First up was the Prelims of the Women's 60 Meter Hurdles, where Eliza Cardwell won her heat in a personal best, School Record and Meet Record time of 8.64 seconds, qualifying her for the final! Arissa Grace McGowan placed third in her heat and ran the eighth fastest time of the prelims with her time of 9.13 seconds, qualifying her for the final as well! Myeh Medina placed 11th overall and second in her heat in a personal best time of 9.29 seconds! Olivia Steele placed fifth in her heat and 20th overall in a time of 9.72 seconds!
Eliza won the 60 Meter Hurdles Final in a time of 8.67 seconds, winning the race by a tenth of a second, earning 10 points for the team! Arissa placed eighth in the final, earning 1 point for the team, in a time of 9.34 seconds!
60 Meter Dash
In the Women's 60 Meter Dash Prelims, Héloïse Hughes placed second in her heat and 15th overall, running a time of 7.99 seconds! Rachel Hubley placed eighth in the same heat and 34th overall, running a time of 8.18 seconds!
In the Men's 60 Meter Dash Prelims, Alex Nichols and Ben Bell competed in the same heat, placing fourth and fifth, respectively, in the same time of 7.00 seconds! For both men, it is a personal best time! Alex and Ben's times were the eighth and ninth fastest in the prelims, so Alex advanced to the final and placed eighth in a time of 7.02 seconds, earning one point for the team!
400
Next on the track for the Mammoths was the Women's 400. Casie Eifrig and Christa Prasertsintanah competed in the same heat in a very tight and competitive heat, Casie placed fourth and ninth overall in a time of 58.09 seconds and Christa placed fifth in the heat and 11th overall, running a time of 58.69 seconds! Camilla Lash pushed hard in the final stretch of her race to place third in her heat and 20th overall in a time of 1:01!
600
Kolya Markov-Riss was the only Mammoth to compete in the 600 and he raced in the fastest heat. Kolya got out well and as soon as the runners exited their lanes, the race quickly became very tightly bunched. Kolya navigated through the tight field and even after getting tripped up with 150 meters to go, Kolya pulled away to place third in a time of 1:22, earning six points for the team!
Parker Boyle (3) and Ben Davis (9) rounding the final straight of the 1,000
800
Next on the track was the 800, where Piper Lentz competed in the fastest heat. The race got out at a relatively slow pace, and Piper stayed calm towards the back of the pack. With one lap to go, Piper was in seventh place and then launched into a huge kick to move up to fourth place on the final straightaway, crossing the finish line in a personal best time of 2:17 and earning five points for the team!
1,000 Meters
Zoë Marcus competed in the fastest heat of the 1,000 and competed with patience throughout the race, kicking hard with 100 meters to go to place second in a time of 2:57, earning eight points for the team!
In the Men's Race, Parker Boyle, Ben Davis and Ian Dopp all competed in the fastest section. In the early stages of the race, the three Mammoths were close together towards the front of the race. With two laps to go, Ben made a big move to reconnect with the lead back and then with 150 meters to go, Parker took the lead and never relinquished it, winning in a personal best time of 2:27, which earned ten points for the team! Parker's time is now Second All-Time at Amherst in the event! Ben Davis used a big kick with 100 meters to go to grab second place and he placed second in a personal best time of 2:28, earning 8 points for the team! Ian Dopp battled hard to place seventh in a time of 2:32, earning two points for the team!
200
Héloïse Hughes ran a strong race in the 200 and placed ninth, running a time of 25.68 seconds!
Alex Nichols won his heat of the 200 in a personal best time of 22.21 seconds, placing twelfth!
3,000
In the Women's 3,000, Julia Schor competed in the fastest section and competed against a strong field, placing fourth and earning five points for the team! Running in a different heat, Claire Callon placed second in her heat and 11th overall! Claire set a personal best with a time of 10:21 after running the 5,000 earlier in the day, an impressive display of her strength!
The Mammoths had a large squad in the Men's 3,000, and Henry Dennen ran a fantastic race, moving up the field and picking off his competitors with a strong close to place seventh and earned two points for the team, running a season best time of 8:22! Stan Craig competed in the same heat as Henry and placed 11th overall, running a time of 8:28! George Cahill, Aidan Gemme and Harrison Dow all ran in the same heat and worked together at the front of the race to push the pace. George Cahill took the lead with three laps to go and pulled away to win the heat in a season best time of 8:36, placing 16th overall! Aidan Gemme placed second in the heat, running a season best time of 8:38, placing 18th overall! Harrison Dow ran a personal best time of 8:40 to place fourth in the heat and 20th overall, especially impressive after running the 5,000 earlier in the meet!
Michael Abbey competing in the Triple Jump
Triple Jump
Michael Abbey won the Triple Jump with a huge personal best jump of 14.24 meters (46' 8.75"), earning 10 points for the team! Kaleb Barrett placed 13th, jumping 13.16 meters (43' 2.25") and Gabe Dos Santos placed 14th, jumping 13.13 meters (43' 1")!
The Women had a fantastic day in the Triple Jump, as Muffie Mazambani placed third, jumping a personal best of 11.47 meters (37' 7.75"), earning six points for the team! Anaya Thomas placed fourth with a personal best jump of 11.22 meters (36' 9.75"), earning five points for the team! Myeh Medina placed fifth, jumping 11.17 meters (36' 7.75"), earning four points for the team! Anastasia Ioppolo placed seventh in a season best jump of 11.10 meters (36' 5"), earning two points for the team!
High Jump
While competing in the Triple Jump, Anaya Thomas was also competing in the High Jump where she placed fourth, clearing 1.61 meters (5' 3.25"), earning five points for the team!
Shot Put
In the Women's Shot Put, Emma Ramsingh placed 16th in a personal best throw of 11.38 meters (37' 4")!
In the Men's Shot Put, David Brown placed 14th with a throw of 13.37 meters (43' 10.5"), Jacob Shine placed 18th with a throw of 12.85 meters (42' 2"), and Hugh Lemmon-Kishi placed 20th with a throw of 12.67 meters (41' 7").
The Men's and Women's 4x800 Relays celebrating their victories and Meet Records!
4x200 Relay
The final events on the track were the relays, and the 4x200 Relay kicked off the relay action at the end of the meet. Rachel Hubley led off for the Mammoths and handed off to Halle Hanna in a tight battle for second and third place. Halle closed hard to hand off to Paige Clark in a tight battle for second place. Paige Clark ran a strong leg, bringing the Mammoths closer to the race leaders and handed off to Camilla Lash in about third place. Camilla ran a strong anchor leg, moving the Mammoths into second place in the heat and seventh place overall, earning the team two points!
4x800 Relay
The 4x800 Relay was a fantastic event for the Mammoths, as both the Women's and Men's Relays won for the second year in a row!
Going in to the Women's 4x800 Relay, a competing team ran a time of 9:17 out of the slower heat, so the Mammoths would need to run faster than that to win the event. Ava Zielinski led off the Women's 4x800 Relay and immediately put the Mammoths in the mix, running with the lead pack and handed off to Bella Lozier in third place. Bella ran a critical leg of the relay, moving into second place after one lap and seized the lead not even half way into the race, understanding that she needed to move into the lead to give the Mammoths a shot to win. Bella ran hard alone and extended the lead, handing off to Piper Lentz in first place with a 2 second lead! Piper ran a fantastic leg, getting out hard and continued to run hard throughout her entire relay leg, handing off to Zoë Marcus with nearly a seven second lead on the field, and the battle against the clock was on. Zoë ran a fantastic leg with only the competition of the lapped runners to push her, and crossed the finish line in a time of 9:14, which won the event for the Mammoths, earning ten points for the team! The time is also a Meet and School Record time!
The Men's 4x800 Relay got off to a strong start with Will Nagy led off for the Mammoths and ran a strong leg, handing off to Kolya Markov-Riss in a 4-way battle for the lead. Kolya moved to the lead one lap into the race and pulled away from the field, handing off to Parker Boyle with a two second lead! Parker ran a fantastic leg, extending the Mammoths lead to pass the baton to Ben Davis with nearly a seven second lead! Ben ran an excellent anchor leg, extending the Mammoths lead even further to help the Mammoths cross the finish line in a Meet Record time of 7:41 to win the event, earning the team ten points! The time is now Second All-Time in Amherst history!
4x400 Relay
The Women's 4x400 Relay was the final event of the day for the Mammoths. Christa Prasertsintanah led off for the Mammoths and ran a strong leg, handing off in third place to Eliza Cardwell. Eliza got out hard and ran hard, handing off to Myeh Medina in third place. Myeh ran a strong leg and handed off to Casie Eifrig in a tight battle for third place. Casie ran her fastest 400 leg ever and fought all the way to the line, bringing the Mammoths across the finish line in fourth place in the heat and fifth overall, earning the team four points!
With the points tallied for the team scores, both the Women's and Men's teams placed third! The Women placed Third by earning 95 points and the Men placed Third by earning 83 points!
We are so grateful for all of the friends, family and alumni who came to support the Mammoths! You all helped give the team so much energy on a fantastic day!
UP NEXT for the Mammoths is the NEICAAA Championships on Friday and Saturday, March 1st and 2nd at the TRACK at New Balance. On Saturday March 2nd, the Mammoths will compete at the Tufts National Qualifying Meet.