Two years ago at a mid-April meet at Gettysburg College, then-sophomores Paul LeFrancois ’12 and Sean Galiczynski ’12 were sprinting down the final straight of a 1500 meter race, with LeFrancois outkicking Galiczynski by the comically narrow margin of 0.03 seconds. Those two must have felt some déjà vu on Saturday April 21, as they found themselves battling down the homestretch at the same track again…with Paul edging out Sean by the now-relatively enormous gap of 0.63 seconds for fourth place.

Luckily, the Red Devils focused most of their competitive energies this weekend on beating opponents, not each other. In the throws, senior co-captains Mike Tucker ’12 and Corwyn Gordon ‘12 continue to set themselves up for an excellent denouement to their college careers. Tucker won the shot put with a throw of 14.78m (48-6) and Gordon won the discus with a toss of 44.84m (147-1). The latter mark is a PR and the second best in the Centennial Conference. Additionally, Gordon took second in the shot put, while Tucker grabbed second in the disc. It was a banner day for Gordon, as his throw in the shot--14.56m (47-9.25)--was a season best, within five centimeters of his lifetime best, and #3 in the conference. It’s getting pretty boring to mention this every week, but Aaron Pannell ’14 ran really fast, jumped really far, and won a few events. Saturday, he won the 100 in 10.89 seconds and the long jump in 6.26m (20-6.5), and took second in the 200 in 22.32.

Like Pannell, Sean Denson ’12 was a dominant force in the conference sprints his first and second year. But then Denson studied abroad in England last year, and has been sidelined for much of this year with a hamstring injury. He showed a flash of his old form at Gettysburg, taking fifth in the 400 in 51.21 seconds. If Sean continues to progress, the Red Devils’ chances of defending their conference title increases massively.

The women’s team also had a nice weekend: Friday night at Widener, sophomores Taylor Ludman ’14 and Emily Miller ’14 took two of the top three places in a race filled with conference competitors from Haverford and Johns Hopkins. Ludman won in 18:11.14, while Miller was third in 18:55.47.

Then on the next day at Gettysburg, classmates Ellie Mackintosh ‘12 and Hannah Leahey ’12 tied for first in the pole vault at 3.36m (11-0.25). That is a one centimeter PR for Leahey, and her first time over 11 meters; the duo currently ranks first and second in the Centennial Conference and both are in the top 45 in Division III.

Mackintosh grabbed two more top five finishes Saturday, in the long and triple jumps. She was fourth in the triple jump at 10.16m (33-4) and fifth in the long with a leap of 4.83m (15-10.25). The latter mark is a season best for Mackintosh, and ranks seventh in the conference.