The MIT Men's Track & Field team trekked to the remote corner of the Bay State and visited our rival Williams College for a non-scoring quad meet in preparation for next weekend's New England Division III Championships.

Captain Ravi Sastry '98 was given a "day off", seeing duty only in the 4x100 relay. As a whole, there were few fireworks from the jumps and throws today, although Patrick Dannen '98, Kalpak Kothari '01, and Nikos Michalakas '01 captured victories in the SP, TJ, and JT, respectively. And Sam Thibault '00,Matt Potts '00 (PR 13'3"), and Sam Towell '00 swept the PV.

This day belonged to the mid-distance guys. Leif Seed '99 was the show today, and the rest of the MD crew followed suit. Leif, on the rebound from lower leg woes, followed a strong and steady pace for 1000 meters, then took command on the 1500, and ran a 60-flat closing lap in a 3:58.53 win. Sohail Husain '98, ran a fiercely competitive race, and chopped yet another 4 seconds off his PR by clocking 4:03.97 and qualifying for NE-3. Chris McGuire '00 dropped down from the 5K and logged his 2nd best 1500 ever (4:05.27). Kaoru Aou '00 certainly deserves print for slashing 3 more seconds off his previous best; today's 4:24.91 represents an 11-second improvement this season.

Full of run, Seed came back and lit the 800 up. He and Joel Ford '98 powered through a 55-second opening lap, and dispatched all challengers en route a 1-2 finish. Both posted PR's, with Leif's 1:54.7 leading Joel's 1:56.1 across the line. In the unseeded section, McGuire took advantage of the rare chance to hone his kicking skills (his is one of the most potent finishing rushes in NE-3), and broke 2:00 in his first attempt at the half (1:59.63). Senior Chuck Van Buren ended his MIT Track career with a season-best (#2 lifetime) 2:03.60.

In the 4x400, MIT sweized the opportunity to upstage the hosts. Williams held the #5 NE-3 ranking, with MIT 6th, but the Beavers took the race fro the opening leg and turned back the home team, with our fastest time of the year, 3:24.61. Freshman Sean Montgomery was the highliight, spinning his leadoff leg in :50.6, and giving us a lead we would not relinquish. Joel's :51.5 carry held the advantage, and when Williams' #3 man pulled up on Todd Rosenfield's shoulder at 200m, the plucky freshman held him off and pulled away (:52.1), giving Neal Karchem '99, an 8-meter lead which he protected tenaciously with his :50.7 anchor.

Other highlights included senior Rich Rosalez's 10K victory that should prolong his career another week into NE-3's, freshman Mark Strauss' solid solo Steeplechase win.

Good spirits prevailed as we left for home. The team is eager for next week's Championships at Middlebury College in Vermont.