In track and field, every event is important for a team to win a meet. The winning hammer throw earns just as many points as the winner of the 10,000 meters or the 110 high hurdles.
Depending on the program, however, some events take on a culture of their own. For coach Kristen Morwick and the Jumbos, the 4x400 relay has become the team's marquee event, and after a season leading the women's team, it is once again provisionally qualified for Nationals at Benedictine University (Ill.) on May 25-27.
The Jumbos have sent a 4x400 relay team to either Indoor or Outdoor Nationals, or both, for five out of the past six seasons.
This year's team of senior tri-captain Rachel Bloom, sophomores Kaleigh Fitzpatrick and Katy O'Brien, and freshman Jackie Ferry may be the most balanced relay team that Morwick has fielded.
With the addition of O'Brien in the outdoor season and each runner capable of going well under 1:00 in their separate legs, this year's team looks primed at a new school record. They are chasing the current 3:52.17 mark, and their second-place 3:54.80 at Div. III's has them within striking distance.
"We're pretty evenly spaced," Bloom said. "It's more even than it was [in 2004] so it takes all of us to kind of do it. We can probably catch the record if the weather's good and we have on-days."
Bloom, a four-year member of the relay, has run at Nationals each season, and was part of the foursome that set the current record in 2004, along with Jessica Trombly (LA '04), Sika Henry (LA '05), and Emily Bersin (LA '04).
"There's a lot of prestige on our team with the 4x400," Morwick said. "You want to be on that 4x400, because you know it's going to Nationals."
Morwick has sent teams to Nationals in five of her six seasons coaching track at Tufts. The former heptathlete from Dartmouth enjoys the flexibility of coaching runners to run the event.
"The 400 is an interesting event because you can approach it from a pure speed perspective, or you can drop a middle distance runner down and go at it from endurance," Morwick said. "We've been lucky to be successful on both ends. Everyone comes in with their individual strengths and talents and we've been able to put it together."
Bloom started at Tufts in 2003 having only run the 100 and 200 meters in high school. Morwick decided to move her up to the longer distance, but Bloom didn't want to run the whole lap at first.
"It was pretty scary at first - I had never run that far before," Bloom said. "With a 100 or a 200, you go all out because you're not going to [get tired out]."
Now Bloom, who has three All-American distinctions in the 4x400 relay, is the team's most reliable runner.
"She came from a real sprinter's background, just through hard work and competitiveness, to really be the backbone of that relay," Morwick said.
"Rachel's a chaser," she continued. "I've seen her down for the count and blow by people with 50 meters left. She's just a great competitor and brings a lot to this team."
As the only senior on the squad, Bloom looks out for her teammates and works to keep them focused and prepared.
"I feel like every year one veteran who's been on it that kind of knows how it goes, knows the competition, can get people pumped up and keep everybody sane," Bloom said.
Having been through many battles on the relay, Bloom was able to keep the team levelheaded during the indoor season when they had their backs to the wall trying to qualify on the last weekend before Nationals at the Trinity Last Chance Invitational at Yale.
Bloom reminded them of her freshman year, when the team had to qualify for Nationals on the last weekend at ECACs, telling them how it worked and remaining positive. The team ran a 3:56.17, winning the event and qualifying in the 10th and final Nationals spot.
Morwick noted that the tradition of leadership in the 4x400 has been passed down through different runners, starting with Sarah Deeb (LA '01) mentoring Trombly, Trombly mentoring Bloom, and now Bloom mentoring Fitzpatrick.
"Every year a different person steps into that role," Morwick said.
Bloom knows the cycle will continue once she graduates, with Fitzpatrick taking her spot and new runners joining the team.
"They're all like 'It's going be so weird without you. The relay is going to be so different,'" Bloom said. "I thought it was going be weird when Trombly left, but everybody shifts."
The constant success of the team has made Morwick's job of training runners much easier.
"It's so nice to have this success to hold out to these kids because they know that it's possible. Its great having that tradition," Morwick said. "Young kids know it's a big deal. And kids who are here say 'I was on it last year; I want to be on it again next year.'"
The limited space to be on this prestigious team has created a lot of competition on the team, especially this season with runners like junior Maggie Clary, sophomore Joyce Uang, and freshman Aubrey Wasser able to step in at any moment.
"Everybody wants to be on the relay," Bloom said "There have been many team conflicts about who gets to be on it or who deserves to be on it. It's a privilege to be on it.
"Everyone goes out there to every race to prove that they should be on it," she continued. "It's helpful because it makes everybody try harder."
And the Jumbos will now take their chase for a new school record to the highest possible stage.
"We have two more tries plus, God willing, Nationals, so you just don't know," Morwick said. "I think if that team gets a good day and a good heat, they could go under 3:50. Who knows, we'll see."
