Men’s and women’s track participated in two meets over the weekend. A small group of runners took the track at the David Hemery Valentine Invitational at Boston University (BU). At BU, the men raced on Friday while the women competed on Saturday. The rest of the team competed on Saturday in Medford, Mass., at the Tufts Stampede. At both meets, athletes achieved impressive results.
The Valentine Invitational provides Div. III athletes with the unique opportunity to race in a meet with professional athletes. One of these professionals, Aidan Ryan ’22, was the first men’s Div. III runner to run a sub-four-minute mile, according to men’s track and field captain Oscar Newman ’25. “He was a senior when I was a freshman, so it was a nice full circle moment,” Newman said. Elias Lindgren ’23 also attended the meet, representing the University of Colorado, where he is a graduate student.
Running alongside professional athletes was an exciting experience for the Ephs. “It’s cool to be competing in the same meet as pros, Olympians, and people who are breaking world records on the same exact track,” mid-distance and sprints runner Annika Paluska ’28 said. “I feel really grateful that I have the opportunity to compete with all of these top-notch runners.”
The day before Paluska competed, two-time Olympic bronze medalist Grant Fisher broke the indoor 5,000m world record on the same track with a time of 12:44.09. Record breaking is not an uncommon occurrence at BU. The BU indoor track itself has a reputation for being one of the fastest in the world. “A lot of people will come there and attempt to run world records,” Newman said.
Ephs displayed a strong performance at the BU event. Lily Yampolsky ’28, Bella King-Harvey ’27, Paluska, and Kate Tuttle ’28 broke the College record for the distance medley relay event with a time of 11:41.27.
Many Ephs also found success in individual events. Charles Dybala ’28 achieved a personal best of 1:53.69 in the 800m, and Jordan Liss-Riordan ’27 achieved a personal best in the mile with a 5:02.73 time. In the 3,000m race, Blakeley Buckingham ’25 achieved a time of 9:43.49, setting a personal best and ranking fourth on the College’s all-time performance list. Tamar Byl-Brann ’27 finished the 5,000m race with a 17:01.04 time, ranking sixth on the College’s all-time performance list. Morgan Eigel ’27 also achieved a personal best in the 5,000m with a time of 17:12.16.
These personal bests and others fostered an exuberant atmosphere among the Ephs at BU. “The team energy when a record is broken, or when you get your season best … is unmatched,” Paluska said.
Just 15 minutes away from BU, the rest of the team competed in the Tufts Stampede on Sunday.
Many of the Ephs competing at BU and Tufts were sick or injured, Abdiel Perde ’28 wrote to the Record. This was especially true for the sprinters, according to Noah Stegmeier ’28. “On the sprint side of things, we’ve been dealing with some injuries this season, so we’re pretty broken up,” he said.
Despite these circumstances, the Ephs supported one another. “We’re always up cheering for our teammates when we’re not actually competing,” Jordan Davis ’28 added.
Some competitors have a lot of down time between their events. “That’s something that I really love about [triple jump],” Perde added. “Because of how late it starts, it gives me the opportunity to watch people do their thing.”
Camaraderie and encouragement are central to the team, Devesh Khamitkar ’28 said, specifically highlighting the support he received from Newman at the meet. “Oscar didn’t even need to be at Tufts, because he ran at BU the day before, and he helped me settle my nerves a little bit before my race,” he said. Khamitkar ultimately made it to the 60m final with a personal best time of 7.20s.
He was one of a handful of athletes who boasted strong performances at The Stampede. The Ephs took first in both the women’s and men’s pole vaults, as Vincent VanMaaren ’27 cleared 4.60m and Ellie Fitzgerald ’26 went 3.80m. In the 60m hurdles Olivia LaBelle ’28 and Ziann Facey ’26 qualified for Div. III New Englands. Rachel Arthur ’25, Clara Gahm ’28, and Nora Johnson ’25 also qualified for New Englands with their times in the 200m, 1,000m, and mile respectively.
Davis, Perde, and Stegmeier shared that their events did not go as well as they had hoped, but added that their experiences were opportunities for growth. “At the end of the meet, when we were on the bus, I was talking to [my coach], and I was like, ‘Coach, I promise you, I’m never gonna travel three hours again to lose,’ and he was like, ‘It’s not a loss if you learn something from it,’” Perde said.
“We have a month to go — we have to take our lessons and go into outdoor strong,” Davis added.
Looking forward, the Div. III New England Championship will be held on Feb. 25 in Boston, and Div. III indoor track nationals will be held on March 14 and 15 in Rochester, N.Y.
