Skip to Content, Navigation, or Footer.
The Tufts Daily
Where you read it first | Thursday, March 28, 2024

Young runners showing strength for Jumbos at Stampede Invitational

2016-03-04-3113A

Several Jumbos set the pace at the Stampede Invitational, the first of two consecutive home track and field events. The Jumbos left on day one in eighth place out of 13 teams, but a number of strong individual performances buoyed the team.

Senior quad-captain Sam Cox said the team was happy to have performed well this year, especially considering that they lost several key players who graduated last year.

"We were really encouraged by what happened this past weekend," Cox said. “I would say in a way it’s a rebuilding year …  there’s so much potential for other people to step up and fill [the Class of 2016's] shoes in different ways, and evidenced by this past weekend, I think that’s really possible.”

Junior distance runner Brittany Bowman continues to roll in what has been an outstanding season thus far, finishing second in the 3000-meters with a time of 9:55.09, which stands as the 8th best in Div. III this season. Bowman ended last season on a high note after finishing 3rd in the 10,000-meters at NESCACs with a time of 36:38.87. That success propelled Bowman into a strong cross country season in which Bowman placed 18th in the national championship race, earning All-American honors, and the momentum seems to have carried over with a number of highly ranked times in the nation so far. In addition to her time over the weekend, Bowman also has national top-15 times in the 5,000-meters (17:10.94) and in the mile (5:06.75), fourth and twelfth at the time of the event, respectively.

"This year will be really big for [Bowman] especially, and she's obviously already run some nationally ranked times," Cox said. "I know she's really excited looking forward to nationals, and I know she’s going to be a key player in ways that she hasn’t had a chance to be in track yet. I think there’s a lot of success coming her way."

The Jumbos also added another nationally-ranked 5k time to their growing list, as sophomore distance runner Natalie Bettez ran a time of 18:18.45, which was 5th on the day and 30th nationally at the time of the event.Five other Tufts runners have times among the top 46 in the nation.The distance runners for Tufts appear to have benefitted from a strong cross country season, as Bettez is also coming off an All-NESCAC honors season, in which she placed second overall at the NESCAC championships in the fall.

Coach Kristen Morwick expressed pride over Bettez's performance at the Stampede Invitational.

"Natalie ... ran a personal best by over 50 seconds and is ranked in the top 40 nationally in the 5k now," Morwick told the Daily in an email. "It was great that she and [senior] Lindsay [Atkeson] could pace each other … and Nat broke away from Lindsay with about three laps to go … but that was also a big PR for Lindsay."

In perhaps the team’s best event of the day, the Jumbos dominated the 800-meters by taking all three of the top spots. First-year long sprinter Julia Gake won the race with a time of 2:22.45, followed by fellow first-year mid-distance runner Lauren Diaz (2:22.86) and Cox (2:22.96).

Sophomore Sydney Ladner and first-year Nicole Kerrigan also both posted season high and 2017 high times, respectively, for the team. Ladner ran an 8.24 in the 60-meter dash and Kerrigan ran a 3:05.66 in the 1000-meters that won her runner-up.

The first-year and sophomore classes have burst onto the scene for Tufts in the new calendar year, as it seems that almost every meet comes with a season best or highly ranked time from an underclassman. This bodes well for the future of the team as the runners continue to improve. Additionally, they will be key pieces for the team as it continues to rely on its depth and versatility.

"The [first-years] and the sophomores coming back from their [first] year have already showed a lot of improvement. I think they will be most important in their contributions to our relay teams," Cox said. "So in years past, we’ve had a hard time putting together a solid relay team without overexerting people. This year, there are more people we can draw from for those relays."

Tufts had another season best time in the 4x200 meter relay, featuring senior quad-captain Rita Donohoe, Ladner, first-year Alina Strileckis and junior Annalisa DeBari, posting a time of 1:47.57. With their new and improved time, they placed 4th out of 13 teams in the event.

In the field events, junior thrower Jennifer Sherwill highlighted the Jumbos' successful day, posting her own new season-bests in the shot put and in the weight throw. Sherwill became one of Tufts' throwers last season heading into NESCACs. With continued improvement this season, Sherwill will be key for the further development of the program.

Tufts will next see action at the the Tufts Cupid Challenge at home in the Gantcher Center on Saturday.