While the rest of Brown slowly gears up for a new semester, the women and men on the indoor track teams are already moving at top speed. At the Joe Donahue Collegiate Indoor Games Jan. 27, the women captured first place, while the men finished second. In the 17 events scored, the women earned 118.33 points to beat the host school, Northeastern University. The men earned 81 points, losing to the University of Connecticut, but finishing ahead of 14 other schools.
"I think we're making steady progress in all the event areas," said Michelle Eisenreich, director of men's and women's track and field. "I think we have a pretty good balance between distance, middle distance and sprints. We have some good field events as well."
The women had a first-place performance from Lauren Waterbury '15 in the 200-meter dash. She finished the race in 25.2 seconds, .55 seconds ahead of sixth-place Colby Lubman '14.
"I wasn't expecting to win — it was a really great feeling," said Waterbury. "At the last event (of the meet), our team was down a few points, so it helped our team win."
In addition to Waterbury's title, Susan Scavone '12 won the 55-meter hurdles in 8.04 seconds, while the 4x400-meter relay team captured gold in 3 minutes and 52.15 seconds. Distance runners also contributed to the team victory, with Bree Shugarts '13 winning the one-mile run in 4:55.60 and Heidi Caldwell '14 finishing the 3000-meter run first in 9:51.84.
The men had two individual first-place finishes from Erik Berg '13 and Kevin Cooper '13. Berg completed the 1000-meter run in 2:27.98 to win, while Cooper ran a full mile in 4:12.49 for the top spot. Matt Bevil '14 also had a strong performance, with a third-place finish in the 800-meter run in a time of 1:54.71. Off the track, Kenneth Thompson '13 earned second place in the triple jump with a leap of 14.35 meters.
Apart from the rest of the team, Dan Lowry '12 and John Spooney '14 competed at the Terrier Invitational hosted by Boston University Saturday. Lowry finished sixth in the 3000-meter run and ran a personal best of 8:02.40. Spooney also finished sixth in the 200-meter dash with a time of 21.59 seconds — the second-fastest time in Brown history.
"The 200 was ok — it was a good time, but it definitely didn't feel like a really good race," said Spooney. "I felt tired and like I needed to work on getting better speed endurance."
But the Bears have been busy long before classes resumed. The teams also competed at the Harvard Challenge Jan. 21. The men were led by Lowry and Cooper, both of whom turned in first-place performances in their respective events. Lowry won the one-mile run in 4:11.98 and Cooper took the top spot in the 3000-meter run in 8:36.05. On the women's field side, Lacey Craker '13 won the weight throw with a toss of 16.20 meters. On the track, Margaret Connelly '14 won the one-mile race in 5:00.18, and Scavone finished the 60-meter hurdles in 8.54 seconds to win.
On Jan. 14, the teams competed at the Sorlien Invitational hosted by the University of Rhode Island. Highlights of the meet included Spooney winning the 60-meter dash in 6.85, Nathan Elder '13 earning the top spot in the 800m run with a time of 1:57.74 and Daniel Smith '13 winning the shot put with a heave of 15.25 meters.
"The 60 — that race felt really good," Spooney said. "My mechanics were coming together. They're getting better … It was my first race where I could get used to just running really fast."
The women also had three championship performances at the Sorlien Invitational from Scavone, who finished the 60-meter hurdles in 8.89, the 4x400m relay team with a time of 4:00.46, and Monica Pechanec '15, who reached a height of 3.45 meters in the pole vault.
Eisenreich said the teams are progressing well through the season and are not hindered by any significant injuries.
"I think we need to continue to build focus and confidence and intensity," Eisenreich said. "I think we are in a good spot but need to build momentum."
The teams will next compete Feb. 4 at the Tribute to Charles Torpey meet hosted by URI.
