The women's track team posted a strong showing at the NESCAC Championships in Hamilton, N.Y. Saturday, finishing in second place overall. Like last season, the meet came down to three teams: Williams, Tufts and Middlebury. The Ephs pulled away from the pack, amassing 160.50 points for their eighth consecutive conference crown, while the Jumbos narrowly edged the Panthers, taking the battle for second 120-119.50.
With only two first-place finishes on the day, the team had to rely heavily on its depth to secure points from third- and fourth-place finishes.
"It was a big, competitive year," senior co-captain Cat Beck said. "Just to give an idea: The top six finishers in the 1,500 all hit provisional qualifying times. When you look at the overall scores you can see how close it was. We had to scramble for as many points as possible."
"There were a lot of obstacles," coach Kristen Morwick added. "We were missing a few key people this weekend, so we knew we were going for second. Williams, after being embarrassed by us in indoor, were really going after us, [and] the heat took its toll on our distance runners. But despite all that, people still had great performances, which is amazing. We had some really nice team support this weekend."
Sophomore Logan Crane led the team on Saturday, capturing the Jumbos' only two wins and finishing in second in another event. Crane won the 100-meter dash, clocking in at 12.32 seconds and beating out Williams' Elise Johnson for first place. The sophomore also won the long jump, leaping 5.32 meters. Senior Jenna Weir finished right behind her in second place with a jump of 5.16 meters, while senior co-captain Kaleigh Fitzpatrick, along with freshman Kanku Kabongo, also won points for Tufts in the event, finishing in fifth and ninth, respectively.
Crane also came in second place in the 200-meter dash with a time of 25.52 seconds, about 0.57 seconds behind Williams senior co-captain Caroline Plitt. Fitzpatrick earned fourth place in the event with her time of 25.89, and sophomore Andrea Ferri added a point for Tufts, finishing in 10th place.
The 80-degree heat, though hindering for the distance runners, was ideal for the sprinters.
"I loved the heat," Crane said. "It was so nice for the sprinters because it keeps our muscles warm."
Continuing their success with relays, the Jumbos finished in second place in the 4x100, ending up with a time of 49.04 seconds. In addition, both the 4x400 and the 4x800 teams earned fourth-place finishes. Consisting of Fitzpatrick, Ferri, junior Aubrey Wasser and freshman Andrea Caruth, the 4x400 team's time of 4:02.08 put them right behind Middlebury.
"Kaleigh had a tough day, competing in the long jump, 200 and 400, and yet she ran a great 4x4 as well," Beck said.
Anchoring the 4x800, senior Katy O'Brien started about 30 meters behind her Middlebury competitor but was able to catch up and won the event for the Jumbos right at the finish line.
"We needed to be close to Middlebury in the 4x8 to beat them in the meet, so that was huge," Morwick said. "Katy nipped [Middlebury] right at the end. The whole team was cheering from across the field, 'OB! OB!' It was really great; everyone was really excited for her."
Caruth had a great day of her own, setting a personal record in her second-place finish in the 400-meter hurdles with her time of 1:04.59, as well as completing the last leg of the 4x4, in which she went sub-60 seconds.
"She just busted out of nowhere," Beck said. "I think her hurdle time was seven seconds off of her old high school PR. Then she anchored the 4x4 in 58 seconds which was huge."
"Our freshmen were just awesome," Morwick added. "They stepped up big. The whole team went bananas for Andrea; she was really inspiring. Every week she's doing workouts and getting the confidence she needs. She runs a smart race, just slowly gaining and gaining."
Beck had an exciting weekend, competing in NESCACs right after representing Tufts at the Penn Relays on Thursday. Beck was the sole Jumbo at the meet in Philadelphia, and was the only Div. III athlete in her race, the 5,000-meter run. The co-captain had an outstanding performance and finished in sixth place overall with a time of 16:41.97. Her finish was not only well within the automatic qualifying time for Nationals, but it also broke her own school record from 2006 by 9.07 seconds. Beck's time is the fastest in the country right now.
"We got there an hour before her race after driving for seven hours in traffic," Morwick said. "She literally jumped out of the car and warmed up while I found a parking space. She's such a trooper; it's really unbelievable."
The stiff competition at the Penn Relays helped Beck in her performance at NESCACs.
"The competition level was really appropriate for me; I definitely like to be pushed," Beck said. "It elevates my level of competition and it's a big mental boost to keep up with someone and then pass them."
At NESCACs, Beck competed in the 800, the event in which she broke a school record last week. Transitioning from the long grind of the 5,000 to a mid-distance race proved to be difficult, though she still earned second place with a time of 2:15.03.
The Jumbos also scored in the 1,500-meter run, as senior Katy O'Brien finished in third place with a time of 4:36.22, while freshman Stephanie McNamara's time of 4:38.98 earned her fifth place.
After the stiff competition of NESCACs, the Jumbos are looking forward to the more low-key meets coming up, beginning with the New England Div. III Championships this weekend.
"This weekend took a toll on all of us," Morwick said. "From now on, we'll just go for more individual stuff and focus on Nationals qualifications. We'll just put people in their best events - no doubling up. We can't do that two weeks in a row."
