Women's track and field grabs fourth at Div. III New Englands indoors, third at NESCACs outdoors

The first five months of 2016 have seen the women's track and field team maintain the same level of success that it has had over the last few years, in a new era of top nationally-ranked athletes, however.

For the entire squad, the indoor season started off with a first-place finish at the Tufts Invite, held at the Gantcher Center on Jan. 16. As the season progressed, the team came together and had stronger performances at the Bowdoin Invitational, Tufts Stampede and Tufts Cupid, culminating in a fourth-place finish at Div. III New England's, where graduating senior quint-captain Alexis Harrison set a new meet record in the 60-meter dash with 7.63 seconds for the win. Other notable performances from Div. III New England's included graduating senior quint-captain Marilyn Allen's runner-up finish in the 60-meter hurdles and classmate quint-captain Sydney Smith's fifth-place finish in the one mile run. The captains helped lead their team to their best finish at the meet since landing third in 2014.

Harrison, Allen and Smith also qualified for the NCAA Div. III Indoor National Championships held in Grinnell, Iowa this year.Harrison had possibly one of Tufts athlete's greatest performances ever, running a 7.55-second 60-meter dash in the prelims, the fourth fastest time in Div. III history. She almost duplicated this performance with a 7.57 in the final, grabbing second overall. Smith also received her first All-American honor in the one-mile run, placing eighth with a time of 4:56.59 — 0.08 seconds ahead of ninth place, after getting into the final by the narrowest of margins (0.002 seconds). Allen also took 12th in the prelims in 8.86 seconds, a solid performance that normally would have made the final, but unfortunately did not, as this year's championships featured one of the deepest hurdle fields in recent history.

After a few weeks of no racing, the Jumbos got back to competing after spring break. Graduating seniors quint-captain Audrey Gould and Olivia Beltrani traveled down to Princeton University to run the 10,000-meter for the early season Sam Howell Invitational, with 36:19.86 for Gould, a time ranking 21st nationally, and 36:44.14 for Beltrani, ranking 30th nationally.

After a few "dress rehearsals," the team traveled to Amherst for the NESCAC Championships on April 30. The Jumbos led for most of the day, but were outpaced by both Williams and Middlebury toward the end to take third overall. Harrison won four events, including the 100-meter dash in 11.88 seconds, which ranks it third nationally.Allen also added a title in the 100-meter hurdles to the Tufts NESCAC win total, running 14.48 seconds, a time currently 18th on the national qualifier list. Smith was just narrowly defeated in the 1,500-meter run with at time of 4:31.23, ranking 11th nationally.Other key performers included Gould in the 10,000-meter run (second, 36:50.00) and rising junior Amylee Anyoha in the hammer throw (second, 147 ft. and six in.).

"The team actually had a great mentality throughout the entire [NESCAC] meet — focus on out-performing seeds and use the fact that we were ahead to provide extra motivation," Smith told the Daily in an email. "Unfortunately, we had a few events not go our way and were missing a few key people to injuries. In our conference, that is the difference between first and third-place finishes."

She explained that despite this, many on the team still performed strongly at the meet.

"It's obviously hard to watch the underdog victory slip away, but the vast majority of the team — and particularly the seniors — delivered career performances that day," Smith said. "They left it all on the track and raced with pride. As a captain, it's the best attitude I could ask for."

Allen echoed this sentiment, adding that many seniors on the team had made significant contributions to the overall Tufts score, which she hoped would prompt younger members of the team to step up.

"We were excited and ready to score in the events where we had an advantage over Williams and Middlebury," Allen said. "Personally, I felt that everyone made an honest effort at NESCACs and was working toward the goal of peaking the top three at the meet."

After NESCACs, the season's team focus ended, and the individual focus began. Many Jumbos competed at the Div. III New England Outdoor Championships, held at Springfield College on May 7. Smith won her first Div. III New England title in the 1,500-meter run with 4:32.92, beating out Williams' first-year Victoria Kingham at the line. Rising junior Brittany Bowman also made a stellar debut in the 10,000-meter run with a fast 36:38.87 for third place, jumping into the national top 27. Additionally, rising senior Sam Cox, rising junior Evie Heffernan and rising sophomore Julia Noble teamed up with Smith to place second in the 4x800 meter relay with a swift 9:17.76 for second overall.

"It was a great feeling to finally win a championship race," Smith said. "To have not only the fitness, [but also] the 'racing smarts' all come together has really just made this season a great conclusion to college racing. Leading from the gun all the way to the finish was definitely a good mental confidence boost for heading into NCAAs in a few weeks."

As for the rest of the season, Harrison, Smith and most likely Allen and Gould will travel to Wartburg College in Iowa for the NCAA Div. III National Championships this coming weekend. All of them will be vying for All-American finishes as they close out their collegiate careers.

Allen had some encouraging words for the teammates that she will be leaving behind upon graduation.

"I would encourage the women's track and field team to maintain a competitive spirit and to not settle for anything less than excellent," she said. "I am proud of the strides that [Tufts track and field] has been able to accomplish over the course of my tenure, and I look forward to hearing about the new accomplishments of the team in the near future."