Track and Field Heats Up, Prepares for NESCACs

The men’s and women’s track and field teams displayed stellar performances in the Silfen Invitational, held at Connecticut College on April 15 and 16, finishing second and third, respectively. During those same two days, members of the teams also participated in the decathlon and heptathlon at the Williams Invitational and in the 5,000 meter run at the Larry Ellis Invitational.

Men

Senior Henry Buren ’22 came in first in the 100 meter dash. His time of 10.63 would have broken the school record he set three years prior, but a tailwind of 2.9 m/s invalidated his accomplishment in Amherst’s record books. Nevertheless, the mark qualified him for the NEICAAA Championship and ranked him in the top 20 nationally in all of DIII. He topped off his performance with a 22.06 in the 200 meter dash, taking third place in the process.

The Mammoths also won the 400 meter hurdles through Ellis Phillips-Gallucci’s ’23 time of 56.08 — his first race of the season. Alton Machen ’24, who took fourth in the event with a 57.76, and Phillips-Gallucci both qualified for the New England DIII Championship with their runs.

Amherst recorded its third and final win in New London in the 4x800 meter relay, which featured first-years Gent Malushaga ’25 and Nick Edwards-Levin ’25, and sophomores Braedon Fiume ’24 and Wilson Spurrell ’24. Their time of 8:03.93 was an excellent start to the outdoor season in the event.

In the field events, multiple Mammoths qualified for the New England Division III Championship. Tying his personal best of 1.90 meters, Gabriel dos Santos ’24 hit the qualifying mark in the high jump. Junior Kelechi Eziri ’23 recorded a triple jump of 14.40 meters that qualified him for the New England DIII Championship and placed him in the top 10 nationally. In the throwing events, first-year David Brown ’25 threw an impressive 13.67 meters in the shot put, becoming another Mammoth eligible for the NEICAAA Championship.

When all was said and done, the men’s team recorded 109 points on the weekend, finishing in second place out of the 20 teams in New London.

Over at Williams, in the decathlon, Jack Trent ’23 took second with a score of 6,055 points, and Max Spelke ’23 took third with 4,977 points. Both qualified for the New England Division III Championship with their performances, but Trent’s score put him in the top 10 nationally for DIII.

Women

First-year Eliza Cardwell ’25 stole the show for the women’s team. In the 100 meter hurdles, Cardwell took third with a time of 15.02 to qualify for the New England DIII Championship. Anaya Thomas ’25 and Bridget Cassata ’24 recorded times of 16.33 and 16.59 seconds, respectively, to qualify for the NEICAAA Championship.

Cardwell recorded her second-best placement in the long jump — her first collegiate participation in the event. She took second place with a mark of 5.44 meters, qualifying her for a second event in the New England DIII Championship. Muffie Mazambani ’24 placed sixth in the long jump and triple jump with marks of 5.17 meters and 11.11 meters, respectively.

Cardwell’s best performance, however, came in the 400 meter hurdles, where she took first place with a time of 1:04.62 — a personal best in the event. The mark qualified her for yet another event in the NEICAAA Championship and a top 20 DIII national ranking. Ava Tillman ’23 took fifth with a 1:07.82 and Artis Phillips ’25 took seventh with a 1:08.69.

The indoor season’s stellar 4x400 meter relay featuring Ava Zielinski ’25, Margo Pedersen ’25, Sylvan Wold ’25, and Julia Schor ’25 took second place in New London with a time of 4:10.92.

The women marked 95 points to take third place out of 20 teams at the meet.

At Williams, Trintje Nydam ’24 and Annelise Romero ’23 mirrored Trent and Spelke with second- and third-place finishes in the heptathlon. Nydam scored 3,648 points — a personal best — while Romero recorded 3,551 points. Both qualified for the New England DIII Championship in their first complete heptathlons of the outdoor season.

And finally, two competitors made the trip down to Princeton, New Jersey, to compete in a deep 5,000 meter field. Even though they were the only DIII runners in attendance, Sophie Wolmer ’23 and Sidnie Kulik ’25 ran well in an especially deep field — Wolmer stuck with the lead pack all the way through the race and finished in a personal-best 16:50, good for third all-time in Amherst’s record books. Kulik also ran a great race, finishing in 17:19 after steadily moving up throughout the race.

The team will compete in their last meet before NESCACs this coming weekend at MIT. The meet will be taking place at the Engineers’ Steinbrenner Stadium on April 23, with events beginning at 11 a.m.