The women's track and field team put in another strong showing this past weekend at the Springfield Invitational. Although the meet was non-scoring, many Jumbos capitalized on the opportunity to qualify for the fast-approaching postseason.
"It was an invitational, so we were able to put some people in different events," coach Kristen Morwick said. "It was a bit windy on the last straightaway so that affected some of the sprint times, but overall it went well."
The heptathlon, which spanned both days of competition, was one of the more anticipated events of the weekend. Presented with the only official opportunity during the regular season to compete in the event, the squad took full advantage - four out of six competitors represented Tufts.
The quartet of freshman Melissa Graveley (3417 points), sophomores Amy Spiker (3130 points) and Jessica Trombly (4017 points), and senior Sarah Leistikow (3669 points) proved a contentious crew as they placed fourth, fifth, second, and third, respectively.
Leistikow had not participated in the heptathlon since freshman year, and this weekend was the first time for Graveley, Spiker, and Trombly. With her second place finish, Trombly came close to breaking the school record in the heptathlon, ending up 106 points shy of tying the 4123 point mark.
Trombly's effort was also good enough to earn her a provisional qualification for Nationals, giving her an impressive first outing in the event. Graveley and Spiker both qualified for ECACs, while Leistikow made the Division I cut-off.
"It was nice to have so many people competing in the heptathlon, they were able to support each other," Morwick said. "They can all improve in different areas, it was a good learning experience."
The sprinting tandem of junior co-captain Myriam Claudio (2:23.49) and sophomore Emily Bersin (2:23.52) went for a distance workout in the 800m run. The duo placed second and third, qualifying for Division IIIs in the process.
"I haven't raced the 800 in over a year, but it felt fine," Bersin said. "I would like to do it once again this season. It was nice to be able to run it with Myriam since we do our workouts together and know each other's racing style so well."
Sophomore Shushanna Mignott also had a successful outing in the sprints, placing fifth in both the 100m dash (13.37) and in the 200m dash (28.12). Fellow freshman Ayako Sawanobori (28.40) and Sika Henry (28.93) placed sixth and seventh in the 200.
"We've trained Shushanna as a jumper, so to see her do so well in the sprints is great," Morwick said. "The wind of the straightaway was pretty strong, I think she could have gone below 28 in the 200 without it."
The long distance crew also had its share of worthy finishes. Freshman Katie Sheedy qualified for the ECAC meet with her outing in the 1500m run. Sheedy placed second with a greatly improved time of 4:55.97. Also making the stride in the postseason was junior Megan DiBiase (20:47.71), as she met the NESCAC mark in the 5000m race en route to a third place finish.
In the steeplechase, junior Mary Nodine (12:06.33), senior Heather Ballantyne, and sophomore Bethany Arrand captured second, third, and fourth places respectively. Ballantyne (12:13.11) and Arrand (12:19.57) also picked up season personal records (PRs).
"We were really happy with the race, but I still think we can go faster," Ballantyne said. "There's a huge learning curve for the steeplechase, so I'm excited for the postseason and better competition."
The throwers logged another weekend highlighted by PRs achieved across all events. Freshman Katie Antle threw a PR in the discus (116') that clinched first in the event. Antle also had a PR in the hammer throw (105' 8'') in her sixth place finish. Sophomore Kate Gluckman posted PRs in the discus (112' 3'') and the shot put (38' 6''), garnering third and fourth places in the two events.
Newcomer and sophomore Maritsa Christoudias placed ninth in the javelin throw, just missing the finals grouping of the top eight with her hurl of 91' 1''. However Christoudias fouled out on an attempt of 120', which would have placed her comfortably in second place.
"We've been working with Maritsa for about two weeks now, she's a great athlete and only going to get better. She has a great shot at NESCACs in the javelin," Morwick said.
Sophomore Jessica Gauthier threw for a PR of 108' 05'' in the hammer throw, good enough for a fourth place finish. Freshman Jess Colby also had a PR in the hammer of 99' 10'' in her seventh place finish.
This weekend's upcoming Connecticut College Invitational will provide the squad with its last regular season meet. The postseason starts up the following weekend with the NESCAC Championships, which makes this next competition a prime and necessary opportunity to get as many Jumbos as possible into postseason venues. In addition to Connecticut College, Coast Guard, WPI, and Eastern Connecticut College will provide the team with worthy adversaries.
"This is a last chance qualifier for the postseason," Morwick said. "We'll be missing some key people due to the FE exam that some engineers on the team are required to take, but we should be fine. We'll try to put people in their best events."
@s:Women to compete at Conn College next week
