The women's track and field team, which won the NESCAC Championships at home last year with a dominating 203-point victory over second-place Middlebury (117.50 points), was unable to repeat, as Williams outpaced the field Saturday with a crushing 179-point score. Tufts was second with 126 points, while Middlebury finished third with 109.5 points.
While the rain at Colby College certainly played a role in many athletes' individual performances, the Jumbos were still able to have an impressive day all around, putting up a fight against Williams. Sophomore Alexis Harrison took third overall in the 100-meter dash with a time of 12.44 seconds, falling just short of her season-best time of 12.29 seconds. Senior tri-captain Anya Kaufmann took fifth in the event, running a time of 12.60 seconds to add four more points to the Jumbos' score.
Kaufmann nabbed an eighth-place finish in the 200-meter dash (26.45 seconds) to add another point to the score. Senior Jana Hieber added 20 points to the Jumbos' total score with two individual NESCAC titles including wins in the 100-meter and 400-meter hurdles. Her dominating time of 1:02:70 in the 400-meter hurdles was over a second faster than the second-place time. The Jumbos were also victorious in the 4x100-meter relay, as junior Christina Harvey, Kaufmann, freshman Bianca Rescalvo and Harrison teamed up to break the meet record with a time of 48.06 seconds. The previous meet record was set last year by Harvey, Kaufmann, Harrison and Samantha Bissonnette (LA '13) in 48.27 seconds.
"The 4x100 [relay] really got people psyched for the rest of the day," sophomore Sydney Smith said. "It pumped us up and made us hungrier for points."
Tufts also fared well in the distance events. In a fast 800-meter race, Smith and junior Lauren Gormer both placed in the top eight. The race was extremely tight, with first and fifth place separated only by 1.5 seconds. Smith came in fifth with a new personal record of 2:15.99, while Gormer placed seventh with a season-best time of 2:17.04.
In the 5,000, sophomore Audrey Gould ran out to the front from the gun and never looked back. Following a 5:30 first mile, Gould was able to take the NESCAC title with her time of 17:30.26, finishing more than six seconds ahead of the next closest runner.
The Jumbos also saw points scored in the 10,000, as senior Abby Barker placed fifth, running a time of 36:57.44, while senior Lauren Creath took eighth with a time of 37:36.12. In a similar fashion, senior tri-captain Laura Peterson and sophomore Olivia Beltrani also finished in the top eight in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. Peterson took fifth, running a time of 11:21.11 in the competition, while Beltrani took eighth in a new personal record of 11:33.54.
"I wanted to go out hard in the steeplechase to avoid racing with the pack over the water jumps, and after that, I just wanted to hang on," Peterson said.
Although Tufts was not as dominant in the field as it was last year, the team still competed at a high level. Hieber took second in the long jump with her leap of 17' 8", while Harrison and Kaufmann finished sixth and eighth, respectively.
Tufts also received three top-eight finishes in the shot-put as senior Robin Armstrong took fifth with a throw of 36' 3 1/2", Hieber took seventh with a toss of 35' 8 1/2" and freshman Bailey Conner made her mark with an impressive throw of 35' 5 1/4" to place eighth. Armstrong later placed fifth in the hammer throw with a heave of 142' 5", and sixth in the javelin with her throw of 124' 10". Senior Kristen Roberts and sophomore Paige Roberts also contributed to the point total as well in the high jump, as Kristen Roberts took fifth with a mark of 4' 11 3/4", while Paige Roberts tied for sixth, achieving the same height, but with an additional attempt.
"Williams was an incredibly talented team that was going to be very difficult to top," Smith said. "We had a lot of great performances, but we also had a few areas where we fell short of what we were hoping to achieve."
Williams has won the NESCAC title 13 times since 2001, but Peterson still believes that Tufts can catch the reigning champs next year.
"We may be losing a lot of seniors and Williams is an incredible program, but I think if the underclassmen continue to improve and keep doing what they are doing, then we could beat Williams," she said. "We also need to be able to capitalize on [Williams'] mistakes."
Though the most important part of the season is over, Smith said that the team still has more work to do.
"Our team focus moving forward will be on chasing a few school records, improving personal performances and hopefully qualifying plenty of people for Nationals," she said. "We will be looking for a solid finish at the Div. III New England meet next weekend [at Springfield College], but we most likely won't have our full squad due to finals."
Women's Track and Field | Williams ends Tufts' bid for second straight NESCAC title
