TOWSON, Md.--After two seasons as a club team, the Hood College men's and women's track and field teams made their NCAA debut Saturday afternoon at the Goucher College Winter Warm-Up Meet. The Blazer men captured the team title and outscored Capital Athletic Conference rival Goucher by 40 points while the women's squad placed second in the three-team competition.

"We are really, really green, but very enthusiastic and unafraid to experiment," said head coach Brent Ayer. "The club-level team started with five athletes that we squeezed into a single van. We have only four seniors, and one of those is a first-time runner. This is an encouraging start to our 'varsity' status."

Winners for the Blazers included Katie Thomas, who took top honors in the 100 meter hurdles (18.69) and the 400 meter hurdles (1:44.85). She also placed second in the 200 meter dash in a time of 29.48. On the men's side, Blair Ames edged Goucher's Sean Mack in the 800 meters in 2:08.44. Additionally, Mark MacKenzie and Robert Lindsey placed first and second, respectively, in the discus. MacKenzie had a toss of 32.46 meters while Lindsey turned in a throw of 22.50 meters.

The Hood men racked up huge points in the field events and the jumps. Bradley Tritsch earned third place showings in the long jump (5.07 meters) and the triple jump (10.73 meters). Three Blazers earned points in the shot put led by Matt Haynes with a toss of 9.46 meters, good for third place. Lindsey (8.85 meters) and MacKenzie (8.22 meters) also scored for Hood in the event. The Blazers captured a total of 14 points in the hammer throw. MacKenzie's toss of 23.70 was good for second place.

Faizal Johnson, Mike Cahill and Tomilayo Komolafe all earned points for the Blazers in the 100 meter dash. Komolafe also placed third in the 400 meter hurdles in 73.11. Ryan Jenkins was Hood's top finisher in the 200 meter dash (24.30) and the 400 meter dash (54.65). Nick Manning took fourth in the 800 meter run in 2:14.65 and the 1500 meter run in 4:51.16. Steve Delaney placed third in the 1500 in 4:43.63. William Andrews (17:03.35) and Faraz Shoai (17:29.28) placed second and third, respectively, in the 5000 meter run.

On the women's side, Katie Reichard took second in both the hammer throw (11.64 meters) and the discus (24.08 meters) and finished third in the shot put (6.97 meters). Anika Watley took fourth in the 100 meter dash with a clocking of 14.57, while Amanda Kwiatkowski took runner-up honors in the 100 meter hurdles (22.76). Rachel Pectol came in third in the 400 meter dash in 71.27 and finished fourth in the 800 meters (2:53.77). Danielle Sgro (21:37.59) and April Penn (25:27.22) finished third and fourth, respectively, in the 5000 meter run.

The Blazers will savor their brilliant performance for two weeks and prepare for the York College Invitational March 17 at 10 a.m.

Men's Team Scores
Hood 113
Howard Community College 93
Goucher 73

Women's Team Scores
Goucher 129
Hood 72
Howard Community College 34