For two weeks in a row, junior sprinter Kemar Brown and the Rensselaer track & field squads have tested themselves against Division I competition, and for the second consecutive weekend Brown and the Engineers left their D-I adversaries stunned, this time at Saturday’s Dartmouth Indoor Classic.
Brown, who was named Liberty League Track Performer of the Week, was the surprise of the meet, winning both the 60 and 200-meter sprints over competitors from Dartmouth, Vermont, Harvard, and Queens. His time of 6.98 in the 60-meter and 22.97 in the 200-meter are another step forward for Brown as he and the team prepare for the Liberty League meet next week and the New York state meet in three weeks.
RPI would sweep the 200-meter event across the gender lines with Jen Dias grabbing the event’s top spot in the women’s competition with a time of 26.75. The junior sprinter also came in second in the 400-meter race while sophomore Marion Albert finished fourth.
The women’s squad got another round of solid performances from the always-consistent Carol Scalice and Felicia Tsai. Scalice took sixth in the long jump while Tsai, who was named Liberty League Field Performer of the Week, earned third in the weight throw.
Senior pole vaulter Jason Legault and freshman distance runner Chris Donais combined with Brown to sweep the men’s Liberty League awards. Legault, who was recognized as the league’s Field Performer of the Week, took second in the pole vault clearing 4.27 meters. Freshman Justin Metzger would finish just behind Legault in third.
Donais came in second in the grueling 3000-meter race with a time of 8:54.34 to earn the Rookie of the Week honors. The rookie showed some guts after he sprinted out with the leader early and hung with him for most of the race. The distance runners got another boost from sophomore Geoff Williams, who ran negative splits in the mile, winning his heat and finishing ninth overall.
RPI used Saturday’s meet as one last tune-up before the Liberty League Championship meet this Saturday. The Engineers’ main competition will be St. Lawrence, who finished a close second to RPI last year. Rensselaer spent part of the Dartmouth meet finalizing their running strategies in preparation for a challenging, point-for-point battle this weekend.
“We have not been in a meet where we have looked to score points,” Tory said. “This weekend [at the Liberty League meet] we will look to score. We want to be competitive and win, but more importantly we want to keep building toward the state meet and the outdoor season.”
