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The Tufts Daily
Where you read it first | Thursday, March 28, 2024

Women’s track and field gears up for New England Div. III Championships

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As the Jumbos prepare for the New England Div. III Championships at Bowdoin College over the weekend, the team sent a partial squad to compete at Springfield’s College Triangle Classic on Saturday.

Although most of the team did not compete, several Tufts athletes put up personal bests, season bests and top finishes at the non-team-scoring meet.

Senior co-captain Kelsey Tierney placed second in the mile with a personal record time of 5:06.79 that currently ranks 30th nationally for Div. III. First-year Kathryn Ezeoha had a breakout performance in the triple jump with a distance of 36’3½” that was good for a personal record, a team season best and No. 50 nationally in Div. III.

Tierney disapproved of how she was paced in the mile.

“It was a [personal record], but I was actually really angry about the race,” Tierney said. “Our assistant coach knew I’d be angry right when it ended because it was a really strangely paced race. But I can’t be too angry.”

There were several other podium finishes in the meet, including senior Julia Noble’s second-place time of 3:08.44 in the 1k and senior Caitlin Porrazzo’s second-place time of 10:50.02 in the 3k. The 4×400 relay team of first-year Tara Lowensohn, first-year Hannah Neilon, first-year Luana Machado and junior Julia Gake placed second with a time of 4:01.69, about six seconds short of their season best. First-year Chidiebele Ikpeazu placed fourth in the shot put at 36’10¼” and sixth in the triple jump at 34’2”, both personal records.

Most of the regular season competition is in the books, so the team now shifts their focus to the New England Div. III Championships. Throughout the regular season meets, the Jumbos have strived to qualify individually for the regional championship meet.

While the focus during the season often is on setting personal records and earning qualifying times and distances, the team also emphasizes the team scoring component at "New Englands," as the athletes often refer to the meet. Last year, Tufts placed fourth with 52 points, behind Williams (149), MIT (127) and Middlebury (73). The Jumbos also set several personal records at the meet.

“We do care about the team scoring at this meet," Tierney said. "But, at the same time, we know and we’re acknowledging more than other years that MIT and Williams especially are just kind of out of reach. They’re going to be battling each other for one and two, and it’s kind of a fight for third."

Because MIT and Williams typically outrank the rest of the field by a large margin, Tierney explained that this year the team’s strategy will focus more on winning as many events as possible rather than trying to earn small points in numerous events in an effort to place third.

“I think the fact that we’re acknowledging that now is going to help us potentially get third,” Tierney said. “If we were trying to strive to beat [MIT and Williams], it’s a little unachievable. Then, we would just be hurting ourselves — if we triple people and they can only get eighth in two events versus if we put certain people in one event and they can win it.”

To place in the top three, the Jumbos will rely on the events that have been the strongest this winter: mainly the relays and long-distance events. In total, the team has athletes ranked in the top 50 nationally in eight events.

The 4×400 relay team of Lowensohn, Neilon, Machado and Gake currently ranks No. 14 with a time of 3:55.53 — just on the cusp of being in the top 12 that qualify for nationals.

“Placing and getting some points would be nice,” Machado said. “Team-wise, I’m hoping that our 4×4 wipes the floor with everybody else and takes that dub that we deserve, fingers crossed we will. I just want the team to perform really well because we’ve been building up momentum for the entire season, so this is our time now.”

The distance medley relay team of junior Lauren Diaz, Gake, Noble and junior Rhemi Toth ranks No. 9 with a 12:01.74 time.

In the mile, Toth ranks No. 12 at 4:57.39, and Tierney ranks No. 30 with her 5:03.79 finish at the Boston University David Hemery Valentine Invitational on Feb. 8. Also, senior Natalie Bettez ranks No. 37 at 17:45.93 in the 5k.

Other top 50 rankings include Gake at No. 47 in the 400-meter at 58.67, Diaz at No. 25 in the 800-meter at 2:16.10, and senior Kylene DeSmith at No. 40 in the pentathlon with 2,996 points. Ezeoha also currently sits No. 50 in the triple jump with her performance at Springfield on Saturday.

The team has seen success in other events this season as well, and every meet has featured different event winners and personal records. The Jumbos hope to stand out amongst the large field of Div. III teams from the New England region at the meet.

“It’s sort of a battle for third with us, Middlebury and Bowdoin, and a few other schools outside the conference,” coach Kristen Morwick said. “We have to do well to get third. We certainly have some places where we’re not entering people, like the 60 and the 200. But, the relays will be a big deal, sneaking out some points in the field events, and, doing well in the events where we’re seeded high.”

The New England Div. III Championships are hosted by Bowdoin in Brunswick, Maine, with the action beginning on Friday, Feb. 22 and continuing through Saturday.