Hamilton College’s men’s and women’s track teams are off to a strong start to their 2019 indoor season. With a mix of seasoned veterans and talented underclassmen, both squads have posted competitive showings at each of the four meets this season.

Men’s captain Ryan Sedwick ’19 paces a thinly manned but talented sprint group, competing in the 60-meter dash and 200-meter sprint every meet. When asked about the group’s potential, Sedwick noted, “We’re a smaller team this year, but we’re still a close-knit group. Guys are pushing each other every day in practice and the results show. Despite our low numbers, we’re still having guys place in the top fifteen, ten, or even top five at these big meets where there are forty or sixty people in an event. Even if we don’t place, people are hitting big [personal records], like Sam [Pomerantz ’20] did last weekend.”

The top-five finishing sprinter mentioned by Sedwick is Will Richardson ’21, who placed fourth in the 400-meter dash at last week’s Utica College Blue and Orange Invitational. Richardson’s time of 51.5 seconds ranks in the top ten in program history and is half of a second away from qualifying for Atlantic Regionals in March. Richardson leads off the Men’s 4×400 relay — which also includes Hugo Frost ’22, Jake Bolster ’19, and Lucas Wright ’21 — that is looking to make a return to Atlantic Regionals after setting a program record last season.

The men’s middle distance and distance squad has been as dangerous as their sprinting counterparts, boasting a deep and talented roster. Leading the way for the men’s distance runners is Wright, who broke the Utica facility record in the 800-meter last week with a time of 1:55.93. The time also qualifies him for Atlantic Regionals.

Bryce Murdick ’20 and Aaron Kraus ’21 joined Wright on the podium last weekend, taking first in the 5000-meter and fifth in the 500-meter, respectively.

When asked to comment on the strong showing from the distance men, captain Colin Horgan ’19 said, “We have a lot of talent across a lot of races so hopefully we can send a good number of people to regionals this year. I’m excited to see what we can put together as a team.”

In the field events, record holder Ty Kunzman ’21 continues his charge towards Nationals in the weight throw.

While he has yet to hit the marks he wants in a meet, Kunzman notes that he’s “been hitting throws in practice, so I know I can do it. Now it’s just about executing in a meet.” With three meets left before Atlantic Regionals, the men have plenty of time to hit their qualifying marks.

The women’s team has used the first four meets of the season to prove that they are a regional contender, finishing in the top three at three of the first four meets of the season.

Guided by captain Cat Berry ’19, the women’s sprint team has achieved a number of individual wins and personal records to start the season. Berry has yet to lose a race that she has entered this season and is

coming off a facility record of 25.85 seconds in the 200-meter dash and new personal best of 59.2 seconds in the 400-meter dash.

“It’s nice to hit the times I want to hit,” Berry said, “but it’s also so fun watching the team do well. We have so many talented sprinters this year. McKela [Kanu ’22] scored in the 60-meter dash as a first-year and Diamond [Jackson ’21] is usually hitting top-ten marks for us too. Kyandreia [Jones ’19] broke her own school record in the 60-meter hurdles in the first race of the year. Our relays are running really well. We have talent across the board.”

Berry has already hit her markers for Atlantic Regionals and has her sights set on a trip to Division III Nationals.

For the distance team, Grace Heller ’19 and Mary Lundin ’19 pace the squad. Lundin captured first place in the 500-meter dash last weekend, setting a school record along the way. Heller regularly places first in the 5,000-meter and 3,000-meter, and has already qualified for Atlantic Regionals in both events. Captain Anaidys Uribe ’19 sees even more potential for the team despite a strong start. “This season has really been a breakout season for the women’s team,” she says. “We’ve placed 1st, 3rd, and 2nd respectively in the past 3 meets of the season. We hope to get the majority of our team out for regionals in Ithaca, and based on the way everyone is running, I see so no reason why we can’t send a strong squad to the meet.”

In the field events, the women have a number of strong competitors scoring points. Leigh Gelotte ’19 placed fourth in the high jump at last week’s meet and Lindsey Royce ’22 placed eighth in the triple jump. Emily Steates ’19 notes how the team has been “working really hard in practice. We feel like we’re trending in the right direction as a group and are looking forward to these last three meets before Regionals to hit some good marks.”

Indeed the Continentals have a favorable schedule lined up to finish out their season, all of which are away races. Next weekend they race nearby at Colgate University, a fast track, and finish out the season on the historic banked track at Boston University with a stop at the Division I Cornell University in between.