The women's track team trounced the competition this past Saturday at the Tufts Invitational meet in the Gancher Center, finishing first out of a field of six teams. The women pulled in 216.25 points for a first-place finish over its five competitors, which included Hartwick College (104), Mount Holyoke (73), and Westfield State College (48.25).
"[The team] worked hard over the break, and it's showing," senior tri-captain Megan Thurber said. "These meets haven't been that big, but they've definitely been good practice."
Senior tri-captain Sarah Deeb tore up the track, placing first in her three events. Deeb set a personal record and qualified for New England Division I post-season competition in the 55-meter dash (7.56), squeaking by her Hartwick competitor, Sheri Kelleher (7.58). In the 200 meter dash, Deeb led the way (26.57), followed by sophomore teammate Myriam Claudio who grabbed a third-place finish (27.90), and qualified for the Division IIIs with a personal record in the event.
"Sarah's probably in the best shape of her life right now," Coach Kristen Morwick said.
Deeb, junior Lauren Esposito, freshman Emily Bersin, and Claudio ran to a first-place finish in the 4x400 relay, coming in nearly ten seconds ahead of their closest competition with a time of 4:10.51. Esposito and teammate Molly Hobey, a junior, just returned from a semester abroad in Ireland and are currently training to return to their peak performance.
"We ran a lot while we were there," Esposito said. "It's hard to get back into racing."
Esposito was up to the challenge, setting the pace in the 600, and taking first place with a time of 1:46.33. Close behind were juniors Colleen Burns (second, 1:46.54), Thurber (third, 1:46.70), and Ellen Adams (fourth, 1:47.45).
The 4x800 was clinched by the team of Burns, freshman Lauren Caputo, sophomore Kristen Munson, and senior tri-captain Leslie Crofton (10:09.54). On the heels of the Burns-Caputo-Munson-Crofton squad, was the second place crew of sophomores Ashley Peterson, Kathryn Hughes, Danielle Perrin, and Heidi Tyson (10:47.81). Tyson crossed the line steps in front of her counterpart from Hartwick College.
Old and new members alike led the team to victory. Crofton cruised to a first-place finish in the 1,500 (4:55.01), and was followed by newcomers Munson (5:10.24), a transfer from Boston University this semester, and Caputo (5:14.43), both of whom will continue to be vital to the team's success the rest of the season.
Freshmen Bersin and Emily Craighead led the way in the mid-distance races, finishing first (3:18.44) and second (3:21.31) in the 1,000. Freshmen Lauren Dunn and Katie Mason dominated their race running neck-and-neck in the 5,000, and taking a close first (20:08.25) and second (20:08.72) respectively. They were followed by sophomore Sarah Foss who took third (20:29.21) in the event.
Senior Folake Aaron put forth her season's best in the 55 high-hurdles with a first-place time of 8.78 seconds that qualified her for the All New England Championships.
In the field events, freshmen Jessica Gauthier and Leistkow picked up points in the shot put with third (30'2.75") and fourth-place (28'10.5") throws, respectively. Leistikow was at her best Saturday as she continued to improve in the high jump with a season high of 4-10 (second) on Saturday. Freshman Amy Spiker tied with the Salem State and Westfield competition for a third-place finish at 4-8.
Senior Nadia Samadani also excelled in the jumps, taking second place in both the long jump (15' 2.75") and the triple jump (33' 5.25"), and qualifying for the Division IIIs with her best performance of the season in the latter.
"We are still trying people out in new events," Morwick said. "There are only three more meets to qualify."
As the Brown and Blue look ahead to the rest of the season, they are hoping for a speedy recovery from both freshman Jessica Trombly and junior Heather Ballantyne. "We have to get a few people back from injury," Morwick said. "We are still training so it's only going to get better."
The women will square off against stronger competition next week when they head to Bowdoin to take on Middlebury, Springfield, and the meet's host, the Polar Bears.
"It's going to be tough," Morwick said. "They are all very strong, deep teams. This will not only be good competition, but a good test for us."
