Complete Results
BOSTON, Mass. – It's difficult to overstate how tremendously successful the weekend proved to be for the Allegheny men's track and field program. Although the Gators failed to net any individual victories against a field of competitors that included a plethora of professional runners and many of the region's top Division I, II, and III programs, they managed to make every event memorable by shattering school records and punching ticket after ticket to the 2011 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships.
Among the Blue and Gold's contingent, no one enjoyed a better weekend than junior speedster Taylor Throckmorton, who etched his name into the record books three times in as many tries. Throckmorton took advantage of a good lane draw in the 400-meter run to win his section. Holding off Manhattan's Carlos Petrovich down the stretch, Throckmorton broke the tape in a school-record 49.29, eclipsing Aaron Rape's 2004 time of 49.58.
Throck repeated the record-breaking feat in the 200m. Capitalizing on a tremendous start, he delivered another winning effort in his section while knocking Josh Brannan '07 from Allegheny's all-time annuls with a time of 22.73. Both efforts resulted in NCAA provisional qualifying marks.
“This weekend's meet was beyond my expectations,” remarked Throckmorton. “I worked very hard over the summer and today I was able to see it pay off. I felt strong in both individual races, but I didn't expect to produce results this fast. I couldn't have hoped for anything more out of the weekend, and it's a great lead-in to the conference meet.”
In addition to setting records in the 200m and 400m, Throckmorton also supplied the second leg on a distance medley relay that smashed the existing school record while netting an NCAA automatic cut. After an outstanding 3:02 split from late stand-in Mike Vlah in the 1200m, Throck split 48.9 before handing off to Mahone, who ignited a sensational weekend of his own with a clip of 1:55. Taking the baton on the final exchange, senior Tony Dipre anchored the relay with a 4:06 mile. The final time of 9:54.42 set an Allegheny record, an NCAC open record, and fell one second short of the previous national record. The Gators finished fourth among Division III schools and fifth overall while the top three teams, including eventual winner Amherst (9:49.11), shattered the open national record in what was the fastest distance medley relay in the history of Division III.
“It was such an amazing weekend,” exclaimed head coach Brent Wilkerson. “So many things that went right. We took a small squad to this meet knowing that it would provide a great chance to qualify for nationals, and after being given a shot to perform, our guys didn't disappoint. There's a lot of excitement on the team right now because we showed that we can compete with the absolute best in the nation.”
As for the record-setting relay, Wilkerson added, “In many ways, this weekend was all about the DMR. We brought our guys up here to prove they could compete for a national title and they showed they belong. Mike Vlah stepped in and delivered a phenomenal split in what may have been the run of the weekend. Tayor continued his stellar junior year with another strong quarter while Tony ensured a victory for us in our heat with a tremendous finish.”
Dipre replicated his ridiculous relay performance with an even better effort in the open mile. Finishing 13th overall out of 199 entrants, he crushed his own school record with a three-second indoor PR and another section win. Dipre unleashed a furious final three laps and closed in 4:06.81, one-tenth of one second behind NYU's Matt Turlip for the fastest time in the nation in Division III this year.
“After our performance in the DMR, I came into today's race with high confidence and no real pressure,” said Dipre. “I took the lead early to get on pace, settled in for the middle part of the race, and felt great heading into the final 600 meters.”
Not to be left out of the celebration, Mahone added an individual school record in the 800m to his place on the blazing distance medley relay. Mahone went out with the lead pack and looked strong throughout the duration of the circuit. Taking advantage of the deep and talented field, Mahone busted through the finish in 1:54.12, securing an NCAA provisional mark while topping his own school record by over one full second.
