Competition Begins at 9:00 a.m. on Saturday

Schedule of Events Qualifying Standards

HADLEY, Mass. - The 2008 NESCAC Track & Field Championships take place this Saturday at the Walter H. Pritchard Track & Field Complex on the campus of Hamilton College in Clinton, N.Y. Williams College has won the last seven NESCAC Women’s Track & Field titles and 15 overall, while the Men’s Track & Field crown was shared for the first time in championship history by the Ephs and Tufts University last April.

After winning the 2006 Women’s title by 36.5 points, the smallest margin of victory in the championship this decade, Williams took the 2007 crown by 53.5 points over second place Middlebury. Senior Carrie Plitt (Wenham, Mass.) and sophomore Emily Heaslip (Ridgefield, Conn.) continued the Ephs’ dominance in the sprint events a year ago, as Plitt took the 100-meter and 200-meter dashes while Heaslip was a winner as a rookie in the 400-meter. From Tufts, senior Kaleigh Fitzpatrick (Lynnfield, Mass.) returns after finishing second in both the 200-meter and 400-meter races. Joining Fitzpatrick in looking to improve upon the Jumbos third place finish at last year’s NESCAC meet will be classmates Catherine Beck (Brookline, N.H.) and Katy O’Brien (North Easton, Mass.) in the middle-distance events. Beck repeated as the conference champion in the 1500-meter race last year, while O’Brien was ninth in the 1500 after claiming the 800-meter title at the 2006 NESCAC championships.

The top three finishers in the 5000-meter last year were Amherst runners, accounting for 24 of the Jeffs’ 79 points - over 30 percent. While Amherst will be without the services of top finisher Shauneen Garrahan, seniors Heather Wilson (Danvers, Mass.) and Katie Moravec (Chico, Calif.) return this weekend after the two placed second and third, respectively, in the 5000. Middlebury junior Alexandra Krieg (Wellesley, Mass.) earned the 10000-meter title last year by less than two seconds before finishing seventh in the 5000-meter. Colby senior Anna King (Greenland, N.H.) set a championship record during last year’s meet in the 3000-meter steeplechase, finishing in a time of 10:36.80.

In hurdles, Trinity senior Amanda White (Wareham, Mass.) heads into the weekend looking for her third 100-meter hurdles crown after being denied the 2007 title by six one-hundreths of a second. Bates junior Izzy Alexander (Harvard, Mass.) and Williams sophomore Katie DuPre (Nashua, N.H.) will look to challenge for the title in both the 100 and 400-meter hurdles, as Alexander placed second in the 400 last April after winning the event in 2006. In the field events, Williams had at least one individual among the top three finishers in six of eight competitions, winning four events.

On the Men’s side, Williams’ tandem of senior Andrew Arons (West Hartford, Conn.) and junior Deividas Seferis (Klaipeda, Lithuania) were one-two in both the 100 and 200-meter events last year to help the Ephs continue their dominance in the sprints, as Arons has won the 100 and 200-meter dash at the previous two NESCAC meets. Joining Arons among the winners in the short-distance events was junior teammate Alex Hoerman (Rochester, N.Y.), coming away with the 400-meter title. In the middle-distance events, Trinity will look to have another strong showing after senior Matt Anderson (Manchester, Conn.) took home the 800-meter crown in 2007 and junior Sam Moorhead (Dedham, Mass.) placed second in the 1500-meter.

The long-distance races will once again be wide open at this year’s championship. Amherst sophomore Daniel Murner (Crestwood, Ky.) is the highest returner in the 5000-meter after finishing second in the run last April. The Williams combination of sophomore Corey Watts (Madison, Wis.) and senior Morgan Seybert (Belle Mead, N.J.) placed fourth and fifth, respectively, in the 10000-meter and are the top returning runners from the event. Hamilton sophomore Peter Kosgei (Kapsabet, Kenya) will look for another strong showing in the 3000-meter steeplechase this weekend, as he edged Tufts senior Dave Sorensen (Dover, Mass.) by over three seconds at last year’s championships.

In the men’s field events, Bates senior Noah Gauthier (Amherst, N.H.) hopes to have solid performances in the shot put, hammer throw and discus after winning the shot and hammer while placing fifth in the discus at the 2007 championship. Wesleyan sophomore Mike Moody (Portland, Maine) returns after claiming the javelin throw title in his first championship appearance by nearly three meters last year.

The championship format, previously a two-day event, was changed to a one-day competition in 2003. The meet gets underway on Saturday with field events beginning at 9:00 a.m. and running events commencing at 9:30 a.m. Results will be available at the conclusion of the event online at www.nescac.com.