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The Tufts Daily
Where you read it first | Friday, March 29, 2024

Jumbos compete well at Valentine Invitational against top athletes

2016-01-30-Mens-and-Womens-Track-and-Field-9
Tufts track runners compete at the Tufts Stampede meet at the Gantcher Center on Jan. 30.

Over the weekend, the women's track and field team traveled a few miles down the road to the Boston University Track and Tennis Center for the annual David Hemery Valentine Invitational. BU Valentine, as it is known, is one of the most famous indoor meets in the nation on the weekend of Valentine's Day, on par with the Iowa Invitational. The meet annually brings in nationally ranked athletes from the Div. I, II and III level, including those from track powerhouses Florida State, Auburn and Georgetown.

The majority of the team took the day off to rest for next weekend's Div. III New England Championships, held at Middlebury. However, a number of Jumbos still took to the reputed "fastest indoor track in the nation" to run some quick times.

"Since so many teams and athletes compete at BU it is always difficult to get all of our athletes into the meet," senior quad-captain Alexis Harrison said. "Those that do compete at BU get an opportunity to go against elite competitors and those that sit out get the chance to get a great workout in as well as focus their energy into next weekend [for Div. III New Englands]."

The sprints squad had an impressive day for the Jumbos, as they ran some very fast times as a tuneup for Div. III New Englands next weekend. Harrison placed 57th overall in the 200-meter run, with a time of 25.65 seconds for a season's best. She also competed in the long jump, taking 30th overall in 16 ft., 10 3/4 in.

Classmate and fellow quad-captain Marilyn Allen, the 60-meter hurdle stud, was 71st in the 200 meters, finishing in 25.88 seconds, a season's best time as well. She also placed well in the 60 meter hurdles, taking 37th in 9.28 seconds. Senior Mary Ellen Caruso, who has been having a career year in her final year running track, was 149th with a personal record of 26.93 seconds.

Later on Saturday, Caruso traveled a few miles up the road to MIT for the Gordon Kelly Invitational to compete in the triple jump, where she leapt 34 ft., 2 3/4 in., good for sixth out of 18. Junior Rita Donohoe also came up big in the 400 meters as she ran a PR of 1:01.10 seconds, taking 142nd overall and winning her heat. Sophomore Julia Prusaczyk added to these fast times as well with her 29th place finish in the 500 meters, running 1:19.72 seconds.

This season, Harrison has been leading this group of fast middle-distance runners. She has consistently run well almost every meet and has even PR'd in the 60-meter dash.

"The biggest change this year for me is my mindset," Harrison said. "Since this is my senior year, I go into every practice and every meet knowing that this is my last year to give it my all in a sport that I love. I watch technique videos of professional athletes, put in the extra effort at practice and have a more intense focus because I want to leave this program knowing that I did the best I could."

A number of distance women were also in action over the weekend, hoping to qualify or improve upon their seeds for the Div. III New England meet. Senior quad-captain Sydney Smith started the day off strong for the Jumbos in the 800 meters, running an indoor PR of 2:15.25 for 51st overall. Sophomore Sara Stokesbury set a huge three-second PR in the event and put herself on an entirely new level, running 2:21.40 for 95th overall, while classmate Prudence Sax ran her second-fastest time ever in 2:25.61. Junior Sam Cox had a big day in the 1000 meters, setting a PR of 3:02.93 to place 44th overall and qualify for Open New Englands.

"Having a good start and giving myself space to run as opposed to getting boxed in definitely helped this weekend," Stokesbury said. "Not being afraid to take the lead and push the pace in the last lap-and-a-half also helped me run a fast time. In terms of my race strategy, I wanted to get out of the start well and try to push the pace for each of the four laps regardless of how the rest of the girls in the race were running."

On the longer-distance side, first-year Livvy Barnett was 95th overall in the mile in 5:13.25, her season best, while senior quad-captain Audrey Gould kept the energy going into the night with her 10:06.24 time, 68th-place finish in the 3,000 meter run. Junior Sarah Corning rounded out the distance action for Tufts, running 19:38.35 in the 5,000 meters for 55th overall. However, early on Saturday morning, the distance medley relay team of sophomore Margot Rashba, Allen, Cox and Smith returned to BU to run 12:22.18 for 20th overall.

Besides Harrison in the long jump at BU and Caruso in the triple jump at MIT, there was little field action for Tufts on the day. First-year Brita Dawson -- who also competed in the 200 meters earlier in the day with a 27.08 time — was 40th in the long jump in 16 ft., 4 1/4 in. In the throws, sophomore Toluwa Akinyemi heaved the shot put 29 ft., 10 3/4 in. for 49th overall, while classmates Amylee Anyoha and Jennifer Sherwill hurled the standards in the weight throw, 44 ft., 9 1/2 in. and 38 ft., 4 in., for 30th and 45th, respectively.

Next weekend, a well-rested Jumbos squad will travel to Middlebury for the annual Div. III New England Track and Field Championships. Last year, the Jumbos placed sixth overall with 50 points, but will be hoping to improve on that mark come next weekend.

"We want to be in the top three at Div. IIIs this year, and we want to come out of the meet confident that we gave our best effort," Harrison said.