It has been a big month for the runners of the men's and women's indoor track and field teams, as both returned to Colby for the cold darkness that is Jan Plan. The season is now well underway, as both teams have taken part in four meets and have found successes on both the individual and team level.

The season-opening meet saw the teams travel to Cambridge, MA to compete at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. On the individual level, Luke Doherty Munro '13 finished third in the mile, with a time of 4:30.13, only four seconds behind the winner. James Bowe '11 also took home third place, finishing the 400-meter run in 53.63. Mike Reilly '12 finished right behind Bowe in fourth place, with a time of 54.18. David Lowe '11 also turned in a fourth place performance, leaping 5.73 meters (18 feet 10 inches) in the long jump.

The women also performed well at MIT, with two runners capturing first place for the Mules. Heather MacDonald '10 won the 1000-meter run in 3:09.53, a second ahead of her closest competition. Danielle Sheppard '11 won the high jump with a winning leap of 5'3". Beth Bartley '10 finished second to Sheppard with a jump of 4'11". Cassi Knight '10, Emma Linhard '11, and Brittney Bell '13 also turned in second places for the women. In both the men's and women's overall races, Colby finished in third place, with MIT taking both titles.

For both teams, the season continued with three more meets, at Bowdoin College, Bates College, and at the Maine State Meet. The teams both built on their successes at the first meet, and had many notable performances in the following meets. Linhard had a particularly successful few weeks for the women, winning multiple individual races and anchoring the 3,200-meter relay team in two consecutive victories. The team of Amanda Burgess '10, MacDonald, Laura Duff '13, and Linhard won the event at both the Bowdoin Invitational and the Maine State Meet. In the latter, the team not only won the event, but they shattered a 27 year-old state record, finishing in 9:41.54. Colby finished second in the state meet, behind Bowdoin College.

Trent Wiseman '13 had a very successful start to the season pole-vaulting for the men's team. It started with the Bowdoin invitational, where Wiseman not only won his event, but also broke the Colby pole-vault record. His leap of 15'3" was seven inches higher than the previous record set by Conrad Saam '96. But breaking the school record was not enough for Wiseman, who the next week tied his new record en route to taking the state title in the event. Colby as a whole finished fourth in the state meet, with the University of Southern Maine winning the team title. Other performances of note during the month included a second place for Munro in the 800-meter run and a third place finish for Lowe in the pentathlon.

Things are looking up for the Mules as the indoor track season goes on. Both teams are doing better and better, with records falling as the teams move towards more and more important meets. Up next is the Valentine Classic, the MIT Invitational, and the New England Division III Championships.

We have already seen members of the track and field teams make Colby history, even make state history, this year. More exciting moments like those are sure to occur in the coming weeks.