BY NIYIKA CORBETT

In print | May 1, 2008

The Swarthmore men’s track team used this past week to post some final Conference qualifying marks and to tune up for this coming weekend’s competition.

Last Thursday, Ross Weller ’08 competed in the steeplechase at the Penn Relays, running a 9:29. “I was a bit disappointed with my race, but I was happy to be at the relays and in the same heat as a potential Olympic medalist,” Weller said, referring to Anthony Famiglietti, whose PR in the steeplechase is 8:17. As Melina Healey ’08 described FAM, as he is called by his fans, “That guy was crazy, I have never seen anyone like that in my life.” So to all of you steeple enthusiasts out there, keep an eye out for Famiglietti as Olympic Trials action heats up at Hayward Field at the University of Oregon this summer.

Later that weekend, the rest of the team traveled to The College of New Jersey to compete in the Lions Invite. Connor Darby ’09 and Andrew VanBuren ’10 both dropped season bests in the 800. Darby posted a 1:57, which was good enough to earn a 6th place finish. VanBuren also posted an impressive time of 2:05, successfully qualifying for Conferences. Teammate Jaymes Fairfax-Columbo ’10 was full of praise for VanBuren’s race. “Andrew ran a really good race. Last week he missed qualifying by .01 [seconds] and he dropped two seconds this weekend, while running into the wind. I called it. I said he would do it, and he did it. Andrew VanBuren does not disappoint,” he said.

Seth Green ’10 and Alex Breslow ’11 also competed in the 800, posting times of 2:11 and 2:27 respectively.

Mickey Katz ’08 also ran a season best, an exciting 4:20 in the 1500. Breslow doubled to run a 4:45. Distance man Dave Riccardi ’10 toughed the wind for 12.5 laps as the lone Swarthmore man in the 5k. In the afternoon Jonathan Bassett Shoop III ’08 dominated the men’s steeplechase, running by himself in the lead to a time of 9:54. His teammates spread out around the track, trying to help him hit his splits by cheering, but the spectators by the water pit got the best show. Not only did they get to see Shoop gracefully clear the water, but they also got to see the second highlight of the race, the goldfish that live in the pit. As Shoop said, “The fish were sweet. I felt like Godzilla in Tokyo towering over the little goldfish in the water pit.”

In the sprints, next year’s Student Council president Yongjun Heo ’09 competed in both the 100 and 200, racing to times of 12.8 and 24.8, respectively. Chris Mayer-Bacon ’11 dropped times of 56.94 in the 400 and 1:03 in the 400 hurdles. The sprint men also competed in the 4×100, getting their footwork and stick skills ready for Conferences.

Sam Garcia ’08 made his outdoor debut in three throwing events: the shot put, discus and the javelin. With a throw of 31.44m in the discus, Garcia joined teammate Neel Prakash ’09 in qualifying for Conferences. Prakash also competed this past weekend, but unfortunately pulled a muscle in his first javelin throw of the day. “Right now I’m focused on getting better so I can compete at Conferences,” Prakash said.

The Centennial Conference Championships will be held in Gettysburg this year. The action begins with the 10k on Friday night and continues through Sunday. The schedule is available on the Centennial Conference Web site for anyone who wants to catch the action.

“We’ve been working really hard for the past few months, and we should be ready for it,” said Heo.

Weller added, “We’re going into Conferences with a healthy squad, and with some guys that are in good enough shape to surprise a few people.”

Darby summed it up by saying, “We’re going to go balls to the wall.”

Disclosure Note: Jaymes Fairfax-Columbo is a contributor to The Phoenix, but had no role in the production of this article.

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