Track and Field runs away with two top finishes at NESCAC Championships
by Ethan Beatty
Both men’s and women’s track and field have an exciting weekend ahead of them as the division III New England Championship is happening at Williams college next weekend. This is happening after an exciting weekend at Middlebury for the NESCAC championship. Rain and cold temperatures made for a challenging championship day, but Colby persevered and still performed well.
Sage Bailin, a junior from Amherst, Massachusetts, came in first in the 400 meter hurdles with a time of 53.07 seconds to easily capture the championship. Bailin also broke the school record for the 400 meter hurdles this year, a record that had stood for 20 years, and then went on to beat his own record in three consecutive weeks. After winning the NESCAC, Bailin went on to get third in the 400 meter hurdles in the Open New England meet and later placed an impressive 15th at the NCAA Division III championships. This upcoming weekend will begin to cap off a more than impressive season for Bailin.
Tanner Burton, a sophomore from Oakland, Maine, came in second in the 110 meter hurdles. With a time of 14.96 he is now ranked 2nd in the NESCAC and 3rd among Division 3 athletes in the New England region. This impressive showing was surely a highlight for Colby’s track team. Burton will have the chance to further prove the strength of Colby’s track team this upcoming weekend at the DIII New England Championships.
Reeve Maddux, a senior from Hong Kong, placed seventh in a grueling 10000 meter race with a time of 32:20.49. This event was the first 10 km race Maddux ran in his collegiate career. Maddux also placed 10th in a 5,000 meter race at the Maine State meet and 20th in the NESCAC championships this year. Maddux has proven to be a versatile distance runner and certainly a very important aspect and anchor of this impressive Colby team.
The women’s track and field team had an equally if not more impressive showing at the NESCAC championship with many women placing high in their events. The senior Sophie Cerkvenik won the 100 Meter hurdles in 14.51 seconds while sophomore Emily Larson placed sixth with a time of 15.49. These results combined with sophomore Laura Polley and freshman Christie Woodside also placing in the top ten indicate a pretty dominant performance from Colby in this event.
Annah Rossvall, a first-year, also had an impressive performance by finishing third in the 400 meter hurdles with a time of 1:06.16 (PR) while Cerkvenik rounded out this event by coming in sixth with a time of 1:08.03. In the 400 meter dash, Senior Rachel Leonard placed fourth with a time of 59.57. Then senior Helen Chavey capped off the NESCAC championships by placing 10th in another very long 5000 meter race with a time of 18:28.49 which was a pr by an astounding 30 seconds.
First-year Shared Johnson teamed up with Emily Larson to take second and third place respectively in the high jump, at heights of 1.65 and 1.60 meters. Jayla Moss rounded out Colby’s success in field events by placing 9th in the triple jump at 10.65 meters. Johnson, along with Cerkvenik and Rossvall all earned All-Conference honors for their performances. Bailin and Burton on the men’s team earned NESCAC All-Conference honors as well for their performances.
After the weekend, Stokes Cerkvenik noted how the well the team performed despite the weather conditions.
“It was definitely one of the worst weather meets I’ve been to,” she said. “It was cold, rainy and so windy but we still had some good performances. Since it was our conference championship, everyone really pulled together to compete and cheer for each other.”
An impressive showing from Colby athletes across all grades have allowed Colby to send athletes to the upcoming New England Championships. These athletes have the opportunity to put Colby an an athletic spotlight again next weekend. Hopefully all of their hard work will pay off by placing high in this upcoming meet.
