The men's track team traveled to Wesleyan last weekend to compete in the NESCAC Track and Field Championships, where the Polar Bears claimed sixth place.
This year's championship saw some notable performances for the Polar Bear squad. Colin Fong '12 earned second place in the 800-meter run, running 1:53.74 after moving up in the seeding prior to the race.
"I was really looking forward to this meet because some of the best runners in New England compete, and we were fortunate enough to get good weather," said Fong. "I pretty much just followed the field around, and they were all fast enough to bring me through to a new [personal record]."
"As a team, we fell short of our goal of fourth place, but I think we have a lot to look forward to next year," he added. "We're bringing back many of our point scorers, so we're already looking ahead to place higher next year."
The men also grabbed a second-place finish in the men's distance medley relay (DMR), running 10:16.51.
Junior Alex Williams split a 3:06 1,200-meter leg to hand off within the top five of the race and kept the Polar Bears in contention.
Andrew Gluesing '13 ran a competitive leg and handed off to Fong.
Matt Hillard '12 closed out the relay for the Polar Bears, sealing second place by beating Amherst by one second.
Williams, who set a new personal best with his race, was excited by the relay's success but is convinced that the men's team has yet to run its best races.
Although the Polar Bears did not place as well as they had hoped, he thinks the team might fare better at the New England D-III Championships this weekend.
On the field, junior Mason Moss came within two feet of becoming the NESCAC javelin champion. He hurled his implement 191-10.
Pleased with his performance, he remarked that his "event went well. I came in second place in the javelin and had a [personal record] by one foot. I was seeded sixth or seventh, so [I]was happy to beat my seed."
Regarding the team's performance, Moss had mixed feelings. Even though sixth was a positive placing, the team entered the meet with the intention to win; he hopes that the meet lights a fire and motivates the team to do extremely well at the D-III championships this weekend.
In the future, Moss thinks the team can significantly improve on this year's placement.
"We're looking forward to tightening some things up on the team over the next year in order to have a much stronger showing at NESCACs in 2012," he said.