Neither cold, nor wind, nor dark of night could stop the women's track team from doing what they set out to do in Lewiston, Maine last Saturday: win the meet.
The Jumbos competed against Colby, Bates, the University of Southern Maine, Mount Holyoke, and Wellesley. With a total of 210 points, Tufts beat every team but Colby by at least 80 points. The White Mules provided the Jumbos with their only serious competition, finishing in second with 200 points.
"It was close," coach Kristen Morwick said. "We won a lot of events which is good in terms of championship points, but in a small meet like this weaker teams can still sneak up on you by scoring points for fourth through eighth places."
A poorly organized meet that ran almost three hours over schedule literally left some runners and throwers out in the cold. Temperatures on an already cold day dropped as day turned into night, forcing some athletes, late in the day's schedule, to compete in undesirable conditions.
Despite the dismal conditions, many runners set PR's or qualified for the postseason. The throwing squad, moreover, continued its recent surge of improvement.
En route to a second place finish in the discus, freshman Katie Antle threw for a PR of 114', and also placed fourth in the shot put (37'). Sophomore Kate Gluckman established a PR in the shot put at 38', barely edging out Antle for third in the event.
"We practice every day and really work on technique," Antle said. "Every meet we just really want to do better. We set goals and reach them and we cooperate with each other; it fosters a good team morale."
In the sprints, junior co-captain Myriam Claudio captured first in both the 100 (12.85) and 200 meter (26.46) dashes. Claudio's 100 time was a PR and was one one-hundredth of a second off the Div. I qualifying time of 12.84. Sophomore Shushanna Mignott finished the 100 in a PR of 13.24, good for third place. Mignott also leapt to a second place finish in the triple jump (34').
Freshmen Meghan McCarthy and Katie Sheedy, and sophomore Emily Bersin, joined Claudio on the 4x400 relay team that set a track record (4:23.50).
"It was dark, cold, windy, and almost 7 p.m. by the time the 4x400 team ran. I give a lot of credit to them, that won the meet for us," Morwick said.
The 400 hurdles proved a fruitful event for the Jumbos as Bersin (1:09.12), Sheedy (1:12.98) and McCarthy (1:13.19) took first, second, and third place, respectively. Sophomore Sarah St. Pierre ran a PR (1:24.21) on her way to a seventh place finish in the event. Sophomore Amy Spiker had a solid race as she placed second (16.69) in the 100 hurdles.
Sophomore Lauren Caputo and junior Mary Nodine ran both the 800 and 1500 races in an effort to get some speed work in. Caputo ended the day fourth in the 800 (2:33.02) and second in the 1500 (5:01.38), while Nodine finished fifth in the 800 (2:34.65) and third in the 1500 (5:03.55).
In the distance events, senior Heather Ballantyne set a PR in the 3000 steeplechase (12:27.67) as she ran and leapt to third place. Sophomore Bethany Arrand proved the most successful Jumbo distance runner, qualifying for the postseason in the 10,000 run. Arrand ran for a PR of 41:03, which qualifies her for ECACs and brings her close to the Div. I qualifying mark.
Senior Sarah Leistikow won the long jump with a leap of 16' 6''.
This weekend's Springfield Invitational will provide a unique opportunity for the veteran Leistikow, as well as for freshman Melissa Graveley and sophomores Jessica Trombly and Amy Spiker. The meet will provide the quartet an official venue at which to compete in the heptathalon. Consisting of the 100 hurdles, high jump, shot put, 200 dash, long jump, javelin, and 800 run, the heptathalon tests its competitors in every facet of track and field. The main reason that most meets don't hold an official heptathalon event is that it spans two days. Usually the first four events are held on a Friday and the next three on Saturday.
Normally, heptathletes compete in as many of the seven events as they can during the regular season in preparation for the real thing at the championship meets. This weekend's meet will host the only official regular season heptathalon.
"This meet will be very telling for the heptathletes, it's the first and only chance of the season for us to compete," Leistikow said. "Usually I'm the only one taking part in the event; it's great to have other people doing it with me. We have different workouts from everyone else, so it makes the training easier when someone else is competing with me."
The non-scoring nature of this weekend's meet will allow the Jumbos to try some runners in new events, and will provide another opportunity in the short outdoor season to qualify more athletes for the postseason.
