The women's indoor track and field team got its championship season underway on a strong note Friday with its second consecutive third−place showing at the New England Div. III Championships.
The meet, which was held last Friday and Saturday at the University of Southern Maine, was highlighted with a first−place finish by the 4x400 meter relay team. Last year, the 4x400 team — composed of current juniors Andrea Caruth and Kaylee Maykranz, current sophomore Kayley Pettoruto and then−senior Halsey Stebbins (LA '09) — placed second with a time of 4:04.25, just over a second out of first.
But this year the Jumbos were able to flip the script, as, with senior co−captain Andrea Ferri replacing the graduated Stebbins and the other three members of the squad returning, the Jumbos posted a time of 4:02.41, 0.43 seconds ahead of runner−up Bates.
"I ran the anchor leg, so I got to see everything, and I got super inspired by the girls running before me," Ferri said. "At first, everybody was really close, so the first exchange was really messy. Then Andrea Caruth went out on the second leg, and she was passing people one by one. So she comes out in the lead and passes off to [Maykranz], and there's a girl right behind her. Kaylee has this burst of energy and doesn't let her pass her, handing it off to me, and I just went."
The relay finish accounted for 10 of Tufts' 73 total points in the team standings, enough to vault the team past fourth−place finisher Springfield — which ended up with 66 points — into third place.
"It was really exciting because it was during the end of the meet and everyone was cheering," Ferri said. "We weren't sure how we were going to do, so we needed that to clinch third.
The top individual performer of the day for the Jumbos was sophomore Heather Theiss, who not only provisionally qualified for NCAAs with her third−place 11−foot−5.75−inch pole vault, but also improved on the program record that she had previously set last year at the Tufts Invitational with a vault of 11 feet, 2.5 inches. The talented sophomore had yet to break 11 feet this season up until the weekend.
"I've been vaulting at the same height every single meet, so I've been getting frustrated as a result," Theiss said. "I had to be patient, since I knew I was on the verge of a PR [personal record], so it was just a when and where kind of thing. I knew it was going to happen, and it was super exciting and such a relief to clear 11 [feet] and 11 [feet], 5 [inches]."
According to Ferri, Theiss' success has been the result of dedication and hard work adapting to the new pole that she has been using this season.
"The pole vault is hard to adjust to right away, so it's good that she got it done at this important meet," Ferri said. "The practice has paid off. She got one PR, then at the next height another PR, and she deserved it. She's been working so hard."
Sophomore Nakeisha Jones earned Tufts' sole second−place result, as her leap of 38 feet, 1.25 inches in the triple jump fell half an inch short of Springfield senior Nikki Hay's. Jones also placed fourth in the high jump.
Freshman Kelly Allen managed a third−place finish with a shot put throw of 39 feet, 5.5 inches. The Jumbos tallied a couple of third−place finishes in the track events as well, as Caruth ran a 59.08−second 400−meter dash and senior Logan Crane sprinted the 55−meter dash in 7.4 seconds.
Williams, whose 156 points were well ahead of runner−up MIT's 90, won the overall team competition. The Ephs and Engineers were the same two teams that finished ahead of the Jumbos last year, but while last year MIT took first with 134 points, this time Williams ended the weekend on top.
While at both last season and this season's Div. III New England Championships the Jumbos finished third, the team's 73 points in 2010 paled in comparison to last year's 108 points. Although the Jumbos did finish ahead of 22 teams once again, the squad recognized room for improvement.
"We knew MIT and Williams were super strong," Ferri said. "And one distance runner who would have scored points for us has been out injured — [junior] Steph McNamara. It's been closer in the past, and it was a fight, but I'm really happy we got third."
The Jumbos will be occupied next weekend with the All−New England Championships at Boston University, where they will try to improve on last year's tie for 11th place. Theiss placed 11th last year in the All−New England pole vault event, and she hopes to improve on that outing this year, and perhaps set another personal best. Her goal will be doing something no Jumbo pole vaulter has ever done before.
"It would be great if I could get 12 feet, and I have two weeks left to do it," she said. "If not, I always have spring season."
