Only one thing has been lacking in the top tier of NESCAC women's track and field over the past few years: surprises.
When tomorrow's NESCAC Championships kick off at Conn. College, the Williams Ephs will be gunning for their ninth-straight conference title. But it's not just Williams who has been dominant at the annual meet. Dating back to the 2004 season, Tufts and Middlebury have nailed down the Nos. 2 and 3 spots, taking turns in the runner-up position. And as the 2009 meet approaches, this year's top three will likely be no different.
"I think it's going to be a real dogfight between us, Tufts and Williams," Middlebury coach Martin Beatty told the Daily. "The three of us have been the top three [since 2004] and so, you know, we've kind of proven that we're the three strongest in the program."
Still, when it comes down to which team will wind up walking away with the conference crown at the end of the day, things are looking a bit less certain.
"You never know until the meet is run," Beatty said. "Tufts was ahead of us by half a point last year. They have a lot of speed and look very strong this year, and Williams is also very strong, so it's going to make for a really fun women's part at the NESCAC meet."
"I think both those teams are really strong, and I don't know how each team is going to cancel each other out," Tufts coach Kristen Morwick said. "I think we'll have to be great to win, if we're okay we'll be second, and if we have kind of an off day, we'll be third."
Tufts will certainly have its hands full on the running side, where both Williams and Middlebury look formidable. After graduating three of their top runners after the 2008 season in Katy O'Brien (E '08) and former tri-captains Cat Beck (LA '08) and Kaleigh Fitzpatrick (LA '08), the Jumbos have lacked depth.
"Most of the top kids are doing at least two events, if not three," Morwick said. "Some of the sprinters are doing two sprints and a jump and relays, and most of the top distance runners are doubling. We have to do that because we don't have depth in those events."
Distance events could be especially troublesome for the Jumbos, as the success of Middlebury and Williams' cross country programs this year -- the Panthers won the national championship, while the Ephs put up a third-place showing at the NCAA race -- attests to their strength in the longer runs. Tufts boasts one of the nation's top distance runners in sophomore Steph McNamara, whose NCAA provisional qualifying time in the 1,500 meters is tops in the NESCAC and who holds the nation's only automatic qualifier so far this season in the 5,000 meters. But while McNamara should be able to bring home a win in at least one event, the Jumbos will need additional strong performances if they hope to minimize Williams' and Middlebury's advantages.
"We have a lot of potential event winners, but 10 points ... but we also want to have the depth, so we're looking for the other people behind our top scorers to chip in some points, too," Morwick said.
"Williams definitely has tons of people they can throw in to try to get points in the 5k, the [1,500 meters] and even the steeplechase," McNamara said. "We're just trying to put as many people as we can in events that we know we need the points in and just do our best, and it's going to be really important for people to be on their game."
But what Tufts lacks in depth in the running events, it has seemed to make up for in the field events this season, and success in these areas will be critical to the team's final placement. Tufts' jumpers -- including freshman Nakeisha Jones, who has jumped over two feet further than her closest NESCAC competitor this season, and junior Logan Crane, who won the NESCAC title in last year's long jump -- have been a highlight for the team all season, and freshman Heather Theiss has a shot to win the pole vault, according to Morwick.
Where the Jumbos really have a chance to make a dent, though, is in the throwing events.
"The area that we're weak in is the throws," Beatty said. "We're not as strong as we'd like to be in the throws, whereas we feel like we have some pretty good personnel in the jumps, sprints and distance... Williams is strong in all facets of track and field, except maybe in throws they're not as strong as they usually are."
Tufts' throwing core, led by senior tri-captain Paula Dormon, also includes junior Julia Feltus, sophomore Kelly Smith and freshman Ronke Oyekunle.
"Most of our throwers, they throw in every event, but most specialize in one event," Dormon said. "I would say that with all the throwers we have, every single one of us is good at one of the events, so ... we know that Ronke can cover discus, I can cover shot put, Julia and Kelly can both cover hammer, and Julia is both hammer and shot put. I feel like that helps us a lot -- that we're not only relying on one thrower -- it's just split between all of us."
"There's a little bit of pressure, but I think that we do well with pressure and we're not afraid of the challenge," Dormon continued. "We have strong throwers, and ... I really feel like we will do our best and come through."
Weather could also play a big role for the Jumbos, who have posted the majority of their times in less than ideal conditions.
"It's really hard to say what's going to happen," Morwick said. "I think other teams look better on paper than we do, but we've had much crappier weather than they have. We also didn't take a spring trip -- a lot of their top times come from their spring trips, so you never know. We'll just have to wait and see."
"I can see people performing way better than they have done, and I can see a lot of potential in all of our freshmen," McNamara said. "It's supposed to be a great day on Saturday -- maybe a little bit too warm, but [it] is much better than cold and rainy. I really think people are going to bust out pretty big this weekend, and it's a great weekend to do it."
