Baxter, DMR squad take mark at IC4A Championships

This indoor track season, five athletes and two relay teams qualified for the IC4A Championships. All will be making the trip to Boston to represent the Dukes this weekend.

In the absence of an indoor conference championship, the IC4A Championships serve as the focal point of the postseason. The Dukes will face stiff competition, however, as they will race against the top schools in the Northeast.

"We’re not a big enough school that we can expect to win this," assistant coach John McMillan said. "We can still hope to do well, individually."

Sophomore Dave Baxter will be the team’s best bet to earn All-East honors. At the Penn State Invitational in January, Baxter placed fifth among a highly competitive field with a time of 2:25.93 in the 1,000-meters. Two weeks later at the Virginia Tech Challenge, Baxter was instrumental in leading the distance medley relay to its fastest time of the season with a 3:02 opening leg for 1,200 meters.

"Dave did well against the extreme competition he was competing against, and put us in good position," relay teammate junior Paul Cawley said.

A former New York state champion in the mile, this is Baxter’s first season as a significant factor on the team. As a freshman, Baxter was indecisive over whether he wanted to continue running at the college level.

"I think he’s really starting to blossom on his own," coach Bill Walton said. "He’s finding the desire to make the jump from being competitive in the state of New York to being competitive on the collegiate level."

The Dukes also will be relying on Cawley to score points in either the 500-meter run or the distance medley relay. Cawley earned All-East honors last year with a time of 1:03.02 in the 500.

This season coming off injuries to his calves, Cawley hasn’t equaled those marks, but he still managed to qualify in the 500 with a time of 1:04.91.

"I’m improving every day, so that’s good news," Cawley said.

Cawley and Baxter will be joined on the distance medley squad by senior Evan Kays, junior Allen Carr, sophomore Pete Novick and freshman Chris Ward.

"They have a very realistic chance," said Walton on whether the team can qualify for the finals heats.

In the distance events, the Dukes will be sending sophomores Bryan Buckland, C.W. Moran and senior Ted Herbert in the 5,000-meter run. Herbert, the team’s top runner this past cross-country season, ran the 3,000 last year where he finished one spot away from placing.

The championships run March 4-6 at Boston University