Both the men and women’s track and field teams placed second at the 2003 UAA Indoor Track and Field Championships held at Brandeis University this past Friday and Saturday.

The men’s team, which won the meet a year ago, scored 124 points, coming in behind only Emory University (149). The women’s team, however, made a remarkable improvement in scoring 97 points over last year’s fifth-place finish. Washington University (Missouri) won the women’s meet with 132 points.

The men had three individual UAA champions, and the women had two Maroons win their events. Third-year Tom Haxton lead the men in scoring, winning both the 3K in 8:32.27 and the 5K in 14:57.29. Third-year Patrick Sullivan won the 1500-meter race in 4:00.39 and finished second to Haxton in the 3K in 8:34.52. And Babak Yousefian won the 55-meter high hurdles in 7.84 seconds.

Third-year Val Anderson won the 20-pound weight throw with a distance of 14.66 meters and was third in the shot put competition with 11.00 meters to lead the women in scoring. First-year Jessica Winter finished first in the 800-meter run, reaching a provisional NCAA Division III national qualifying standard with a time of 2:17.93.

The Maroons had nine other athletes place in the top three in some event, earning All-UAA honors for each of them. For the men, third-year Adeoye Mabogunje finished second in both the high jump (2.00 meters) and the triple jump (13.88 meters). Fourth-year Ryan Raimo finished second in the 200-meter dash (23.11) and third in the 400-meter dash (51.20), in addition to anchoring the 4×400 relay team to a second place finish in 3:26.70. Second-year Seyi Oyenuga finished second in the long jump with a jump of 6.57 meters and also finished fifth in the 55-meter high hurdles. And third-years Karl Striepe and Justin Kern each had third place finishes, Striepe in the 1500-meter run (4:04.30) and Kern in the shot put (13.76 meters).

Also on the men’s side, fourth-year Peter Bugg finished fourth in the 5K in 15:08.52. Third-year Kenny Musick finished fourth in the weight throw (14.08 meters). And fourth-year Tim Tuff finished fifth in the 800-meter run (2:00.83).

In the women’s competition fourth-year Jelena Pantel finished second in the 200-meter dash in 26.64 and fourth in the 400-meter dash (59.02). And first-year Gabrielle Jones finished second in the long jump (5.17 meters), fifth in the 200-meter dash (27.72), and sixth in the triple jump (10.09 meters).

Fourth-years Clarisse Mesa and Diane Valos each finished third, in the 1500-meter run (in 4:50.01) and the pole vault (2.91 meters) respectively, while fellow fourth-year Meghan Cosgriff-Hernan finished third in the weight-throw (13.15 meters). And the women’s distance medley relay team of second-year Emily Kay, third-year Jessica Gatto, first-year Beverly Chang, and third-year Niki Voelkel finished second in 12:45.48.

Also in the women’s competition, second-year Erin Steiner placed fourth in the 5K run, with a time of 18:05.82, and third-year Darcy Flora placed sixth in the same race, with a time of 18:46.39. First year Obi Onochie placed fourth in the 55-meter dash in 7.68. Fourth-year Cristina Metildi was fourth in the long jump (4.88 meters) and second-year Karin Hong was fifth in the triple jump (10.22 meters).

For most of the team the meet marked a successful end to the indoor season; but for some, there still remains the Division III Indoor National Meet. As of now, the Maroons have provisionally qualified four athletes for the meet: Haxton in the 5K, Sullivan in the 1500, Mabojunge in the triple jump, and Anderson in the weight-throw. However, owing to certain quirks of the qualification process, only Haxton and Sullivan are assured of actually getting into the meet; the others will await news as it comes. The competition takes place this Friday and Saturday in Greencastle, Indiana.