On Friday, January 18, the men’s and women’s Union College Indoor Track and Field competed in the Hamilton College Invitational. The meet was non-scoring but both teams posted three top-five finishes and several other promising performances.

Kaitlin Close ’19 had a good effort in the 800 meters, placing second in the 15-runner field with a time of 2:27.28.

She was matched by Amanda Ashman ’21 in the 1,000 meters, as the first-year runner clocked in with a personal-best 3:21.63 to also place second. Samantha Miller ’19 also posted a top-five finish in the 3,000 meters, placing fourth with a time of 11:54.82. Other top-10 finishes for the Dutchwomen in the track events included junior Abby Valachovic ’20, who placed eighth in the 1,000.

Ashmen’s got a personal-best time and 7th place in the mile, and Steph Heiberger’s ’22 eighth-place finish in the finals of the 60-meter hurdles. Anna Browne ‘20 and Annie Gee ’21 again led Union in the field events, with Browne leaping a team-best 4.00 meters to place eighth in the long jump and Gee taking sixth in the triple jump with a top distance of 9.39 meters.

Will Fisher ’19 and Colin Keally ’20 both led the Dutchmen with second-place finishes in mid-distance events.

Keally finished the 800 meters in 2:03.15, while Fisher completed the 1,000 in a personal-best 2:40.44 to both earn a runner-up result.

Arden Kellner ’19 also picked up a top-five finish with a time of 9:22.32 in the 3,000 meters, good for a fifth-place finish, while junior Phil Brown’s ‘20 time of 53.80 seconds in the 400-meter dash placed him fourth in a field of 13.

In addition, Colin Czerpak ’21 took six seconds off his previous personal best in the 1,000 meters with a time of 2:47.70, while Charles Ahern ’22 posted personal-best times in the 60-meter dash and 200-meter dash.

Union added three more top-three results in the field events. Patrick Glennon ’20 placed first in the triple jump with a mark of 12.33 meters and third in the long jump with a leap of 5.68 meters, while classmate Tony Campedelli ’20 tossed the shot put a personal-best 12.78 meters to also place third.

The Dutchmen and women will return to the track next Saturday at Utica College’s Pioneer Open at 10:30 a.m..