Nearly 50 Div. III teams from New England, New York, and New Jersey will close in on the Gantcher Center this weekend, as Tufts hosts the ECAC Championship meet. The women's track and field team will use the event as an opportunity to compete against the division's best, as athletes work to improve their times for the upcoming National Championship meet.
The ECAC Championship marks the last indoor postseason meet before the NCAA Championships. Held this year at Ohio Northern College in Lima on March 9 and 10, the NCAA meet is an event that all indoor athletes strive to qualify for. With the ECAC meet this weekend, many competitors will be given their last chance to either make it to the NCAA or improve upon their qualifying marks.
"Most teams use this meet as a last chance qualifier and aren't as interested in the team score," coach Kristen Morwick said. "We're hoping to improve our performances and get some National qualifiers."
A constituent of 17 athletes will represent the Jumbos, 14 competing in individual events and relays and three competing solely on relay teams. Within this talented group of athletes, the 4x400m relay team is especially eager for this weekend's competition. The team is comprised of freshman Sika Henry, junior co-captain Myriam Claudio, and sophomores Emily Bersin and Jess Trombly. Although the relay has already qualified for Nationals provisionally, it is looking to improve its mark and thereby increase its chances of getting to the NCAA meet.
There are two levels of qualification for the NCAA meet: provisional and automatic. If the automatic time is achieved than the individual or relay team who posted the time is guaranteed a trip to Lima, Ohio. However, if the provisional time is met, that individual or relay team is then placed on a list of potential NCAA meet contenders. The better the time posted, the better the team's ranking on the list.
Each NCAA event has a specific number of slots, and if enough teams meet the NCAA cutoff than the standby list will be meaningless. But if too few teams make the automatic cutoff, then teams from the provisional list will be allowed to compete at NCAAs, with the top slot going to the fastest team.
Last weekend, at the All-New England Championship meet, the 4x400 team posted its fastest time (4:00.01). The team will be looking to drop about two seconds between the four people in order to get its time into the 3:58.00 range. Only two teams have qualified automatically for the 4x400 with a time of 3:56.00, so any team within the 3:57.00 to 3:59.00 time frame has a chance of making the cut. The Jumbo relay team will look to SUNY-Cortland and Williams College to provide healthy competition.
"We're ranked fifth going into this weekend, so as long as we get first or second in our heat we'll have run a good time," Claudio said. "It'll be a great race to watch since this is our last chance to get a better time, and we'll definitely be going for it."
In addition to the 4x400 relay, Claudio and Trombly will be competing in the 400 dash, both with hopes of qualifying for Nationals. Claudio (59.40) has already made the provisional time of 59.70 and will be looking to better her time in hopes of advancing on the provisional list. Trombly has not run the 400 dash event since the end of January, and looks to improve upon her 60.34 finish in that race.
"I ran the 400 a month ago, but if I run what I have been doing in the relay I should have a good chance of qualifying for Nationals," Trombly said. "The other goal is to run faster in the 4x400 relay, we really have a good chance of making it to Nationals."
Sophomore Sushanna Mignott will also be attempting to leap to Nationals in the triple jump. Mignott's best jump this season was 36", which is six inches off the NCAA provisional mark. The pentathletes senior Sarah Leistikow and freshman Melissa Graveley will also compete this weekend, coming off impressive performances at the Div. III Championship meet two weeks ago. Sophomore Amy Spiker will represent the Jumbos in the 55 hurdles.
The other relay team entered this weekend is the Distance Medley Relay (DMR) team, comprised of freshmen Claudia Clarke and Katie Sheedy, sophomore Lauren Caputo, and junior Mary Nodine. The DMR ran its best time last weekend (12:31.41), having made the provisional qualifying mark of 12:39.00. They also hope to improve their time to ensure that they make the trip to NCAAs.
Sheedy will also compete with senior Colleen Burns in the 800 race, Caputo will race in the 1,000, and Nodine will perform in the 1,500. Rounding out the Jumbo squad competing this weekend will be freshman Megan McCarthy in the 500, junior Ashley Peterson in the 3,000, and throwers freshman Katie Antle in the shot put and sophomore Jessica Gauthier in the weight throw.
While the team is not heading into the meet with the hopes of scoring big points, it is anticipating performances that could carry it to the NCAA Championships. The ECAC Championships get under way today at 10 a.m. and continue through tomorrow.
