Eckstein, Sand soar by records at McElligot Invite

With the spring semester
just beginning,
the men's and women's
track teams both jumped
to a solid start in this past
weekend's Seamus McElligot
Invitation hosted by
Haverford. Both teams
dominated in their respective
strengths: throwing
for the men, distance and
sprints for the women.
Adding onto an already
stellar season, freshman
phenomenon Hannah
Eckstein had a day and a
half. She began her day
in record-breaking fashion
on the 5,000-meter run
where she posted a time
of 10:05.78. This toppled a
highly coveted school record
set by multi-all American,
Laura Paulsen in 2009.
It also blasted Paulsen's
six-year old freshman indoor
record by nearly 12
seconds. It is clear that
Eckstein is getting better
and progressing as the season
goes on, and her opponents
are well aware, as
she is now ranked third in
the nation in the 5,000-meter
event.
"She is a freak!" Emily
Lavell, a junior jumper/
sprints specialist said of
her teammate. "She is an
absolute beast. I would
like to think she got a lot of
good insight from the upperclassmen
on the team,
but with her work ethic
and determination, it is
not difficult to figure out
where her success is coming
from."
But the Lady Jays didn't
end their dominance in
distance as the team also
took back some hardware
in the sprinting, jumps and
throwing departments.
Senior co-captain Alison
Smith finished in first in
the 60, 200 and 400-meter
dashes; freshman Kelley
Hussey finished right behind
Smith in the 60, coming
in second.
On top of that, Smith's
margins of victory in all
three races were quite a
show. She then went on to
finish fifth in the long jump.
Sophomore Emily Kashka,
freshman Kelsey Bower
and Junior Tracey Vill
took the top three spots,
respectively, in the pole
vault to add another Blue
Jay dominated event on the
day. Junior Alana Merkow
continued to hold onto the
conference lead in throws
and put up a winning toss
of 12.29 (40'4").
Teammates sophomore
Emily Swenson and senior
Steph Amalfe also placed
in the shot put, finishing
third and fourth. Junior
Alexa Tzaferos rounded
out the day with three second-
place finishes: 60-meter
hurdles, long jump and
triple jump. Lavell, who had a solid
showing in both the long
jump and triple jump,
thought that the team had
a great day as a whole but
could certainly do bigger
and better things in the
future.
"We are just starting to
get in the right swing of
things. Once we start clicking
a little more through
more practice and meets, it
is going to be scary to see
how far we can go."
The men's team also
flexed their muscle at the
McElligot Invitational. Senior
co-captain Luke Sand
took control of the shot
put events as he broke his
own school record-both
indoor and out-as he
threw the ball 15.11 meters
(49'7").
Sophomore
Jon
H i c k -
man also
placed in
the shot
put with
a third
p l a c e
f i n i s h .
Freshman
Paul Vozzo
also
placed in
the meet
with a
pole vault
of 4.11 meters (13'5 ?").
This allowed Vozzo to
continue his lead in the
conference.
Senior Jacob Kramer finished
first in the 60-meter
high hurdles (8.78 seconds),
while freshman
Ryan
Walsh finished
close behind in
second. Walsh
later went on
to finish second
in the high
jump (1.87 meters).
Sophomore
Max Robinson
continued to
have a strong
season, as he
earned silver
medal honors
in the 3,000-meter run
(8:46.71). Freshman Michael
Spadaro also impressed, as
he finished second in the
triple jump, fourth in the
high jump and fourth in
the pole vault.
To round out the weekend,
both relay teams - the
4 X 400 meter and the distance
medley - ran season
bests. The 4 X 400 comprised
of junior Robert Martin,
sophomore Jared Beekman,
Kramer and freshman Alex
Naticchia. The distance
medley comprised of sophomore
Andrew Carey, Martin,
junior Ben Press and
sophomore Wes Butler.
Both the men and
women's team will look to
continue to progress and
show opponents what Blue
Jay nation is made of. The
women return to action
this weekend at the Navy
Multi-Sweetheart Invitational
on Feb. 9th, then will
team up with the men at
the Boston University Valentine
Invitational on Feb.
10th and 11th.