CMC75 Moments: CMS Hosts 2012 NCAA Track and Field Championships
As part of the buildup to the 75th Anniversary celebration for Claremont McKenna College (visit CMC's 75th Anniversary Countdown Page to learn more), we are reliving many of the great moments from CMS athletic department history over the 75-day countdown from April 17 to July 1. If you were a part of this great moment and would like to add to the memories, or if you would like to submit your memories of your own favorite CMS Athletics moments, fill out the form on our main 75th Anniversary page.
Great Moments from 75 Years of Athletics
2012 Track & Field: CMS Hosts NCAA Division III Championships
The NCAA Division III Track and Field Championships had historically been held in the Northeast or Midwest regions, never once behind held any further west than Iowa. As the longtime track and field coach at CMS since 1984, John Goldhammer always wanted the chance to bring the sport's showcase event west for the first time, and he got his wish in 2012, when CMS was chosen to serve as the host for the NCAA Division III Championships.
One of the logistical problems CMS faced is that it takes a lot of manpower to run a large track and field event, especially when ticketing and crowd control is required, in addition to the usual timing, raking pits, moving hurdles, coordinating heats, etc. And CMS was already into summer vacation mode, meaning that all of the potential student help had scattered. Fortunately, Goldhammer had always cultivated strong relationships with his alumni, and when he put the APB for everyone to come back and help CMS put on a national event, Athenas and Stags returned in droves to help make the event a success.
The Athenas had five athletes qualify for nationals and get the chance to compete at home in an NCAA Championship event, Breanna Deutsch (5000 meters), Ellyn Erving (triple jump), Kelly Garton (1500 meters), Meg O'Keefe (400-meter hurdles) and Jennifer Tavé (10000 meters), with Tavé earning the high finish of ninth. CMS also captured the SCIAC title, as Erving (long jump, triple jump), Garton (800), Deutsch (5000), Rose Lewis (100 hurdles) and O'Keefe (400 hurdles) won individual titles, with Erving setting a meet record in the triple jump.
For the Stags, Jeff MacDonald qualified for nationals in the 400 meters, along with Rafer Dannenhauer in the 5000 meters. The 4x400 relay of Caleb Cunha, Jeffery Vignos, Joey Anderson, and Ari Davis, also qualified and earned a tenth place finish. Bennett Naden (1500), Dannenhauer (5000) and Chris Gage (hammer throw) were SCIAC Champions.
Tony Gnecco ('88):
For as long as I can remember Coach Goldhammer had dreamed about the championship meet being held on the West Coast. In 2012, that dream became a reality -- but not without a lot of help. Coach Goldhammer put out a call for track and field alumni to come help run the meet, because it a such a huge undertaking. Over 100 alums (old and young) heard the call and came back to Claremont for all or part of the week to help make the event a huge success. It was like a large family reunion, where you actually want to spend time with the whole family! It felt like that because Goldhammer has always treated both the athletes and the alums like we were incredibly important -- like we were family. I think we alums were all honored to be a part of this once in a lifetime event and help make Coach's dream a successful reality.
2012 Women's Track and Field Roster
Head Coach: Kendra Reimer
Assistant Coaches: Kelly Beck, John Goldhammer, Jason Romero, Lance Walkington, Michael Hernandez
Allison Barnwell (So., Distance, CMC)
Alisse Baumgarten (Jr., Middle Distance, Scripps)
Lisa Beem (So., Middle Distance, Scripps)
Hana Betts (Fr., Middle Distance, Scripps)
Rachel Bunting (Sr., Sprints, CMC)
Jessica Dang (Jr., Pole Vault, CMC)
Breanna Deutsch (Sr., Distance, Scripps)
Ellyn Erving (So., Jumps, Scripps)
Kelly Garton (Sr., Middle Distance, Scripps)
Calyx Gaston (Jr., Jumps, Scripps)
Sophia Kalin (So., Sprints, Scripps)
Madison Knaub (Fr., Sprints, CMC)
Danielle Knott (Fr., Middle Distance, CMC)
Jackie Kroll (Fr., Throws/Hurdles, CMC)
Allison Krugman (Fr., Pole Vault, CMC)
Rose Lewis (Jr., Hurdles, CMC)
Cora Miller (Fr., Hurdles, CMC)
Sara Mostatabi (Fr., Distance, CMC)
Monique Nguyen (Fr., Jumps/Hurdles, CMC)
Meg O'Keefe (So., Hurdles, HMC)
Melia Plotkin (Sr., Pole Vault, CMC)
Julia Rigby (Sr., Distance, Scripps)
Laura Sauvage (So., Distance, CMC)
Kaitlyn Spees (Fr., Distance, CMC)
Jennifer Tavé (Sr., Distance, Scripps)
Olivia Warren (So., 800, HMC)
Taia Wu (Fr., Distance, Scripps)
Laura Wyatt (So., Distance, Scripps)
Lauren Yeske (Sr., Pole Vault, CMC)
Elise Yoshida (Jr., Middle Distance, CMC)
Manon Zouai (Jr., Jumps, Scripps)
2012 Men's Track and Field Roster
Head Coach: Kendra Reimer
Assistant Coaches: Kelly Beck, John Goldhammer, Jason Romero, Lance Walkington, Michael Hernandez
Joey Anderson (Sr., Hurdles, CMC)
Tim Baffi (Jr., Distance, CMC)
Elan Bernstein (Fr., Throws, CMC)
Tom Boerigter (Sr., Distance, CMC)
Colin Briskman (So., Distance, CMC)
Jonathan Briskman (So., Distance, CMC)
Quinn Chasan (Jr., Distance, CMC)
Jeremy Cheung (Sr., Jumps, CMC)
Will Clausen (Fr., Distance, HMC)
Brian Conroy (Jr., Distance, HMC)
Matt Cook (Fr., Distance, HMC)
Matt Crawford (Fr., Distance, CMC)
Caleb Cunha (Fr., Hurdles, CMC)
Rafer Dannenhauer (Jr., Distance, HMC)
Ari Davis (Jr., Sprints, CMC)
Zach Doran (Jr., Distance, CMC)
Matthew Espy (Fr., Hurdles, HMC)
Nathan Falk (So., Jumps, CMC)
Chris Gage (Jr., Throws, HMC)
Thomas Giardina (Fr., Distance, HMC)
Skyler Grossman (Jr., Sprints, CMC)
Kyle Hansen (Jr., Jumps, CMC)
Aaron Haas (Sr., Jumps, CMC)
Remington Henderson (So., Distance, CMC)
Nick Hobbs (So., Throws, CMC)
Justin Jones (Fr., Middle Distance, HMC)
Alex Kalish (So., Jumps, CMC)
Robert Kealhofer (Jr., Distance, HMC)
Shane Kunselman (Jr., Sprints, CMC)
Jeff MacDonald (Jr., Sprints, CMC)
Mark Mann (So., Throws, HMC)
Ashraf Mathkour (Fr., Middle Distance, CMC)
Alex Mauro (Fr., Distance, CMC)
Bennett Naden (Jr., Distance, HMC)
Joshua Naon (Fr., Hurdles, CMC)
Scott Ogilvie (Sr., Distance, HMC)
Kevin O'Neil (Jr., Distance, HMC)
Russell Page (Jr., Distance, CMC)
Sam Perrella (Fr., Throws, CMC)
Sam Pitcavage (Fr., Distance, CMC)
Kevin Potterton (Sr., Distance, CMC)
Alex Poyhonen (Jr., Distance, CMC)
Chad Redman (Fr., Hurdles, CMC)
Tyler Robinson (So., Distance, HMC)
Evan Soll (Fr., Middle Distance, CMC)
Chad Tarpley (Fr., Middle Distance, CMC)
David Taylor (Jr., Sprints, CMC)
Lucas Van Houten (So., Distance, CMC)
Matt Varghese (Sr., Throws/Jumps, CMC)
Jeff Vignos (Jr., Sprints, CMC)
Kenneth Warner (So., Sprints, CMC)
Jake Weyerhaeuser (Jr., Sprints, CMC)
Greg Wilson (So., Jumps, CMC)
Philip Woods (Fr., Jumps, HMC)
Grant Yang (Fr., Jumps, CMC)