When the women's track and field team traveled to Southern Maine this past weekend for the Div. III Championship meet, it hoped to return with a third place medal. The Jumbos finished one position short of their team goal, though several runners recorded notable individual performances.
Finishing a respectable fourth in a field of 26 teams, the Jumbos fell four points short of third place. But with Wheaton taking first place (188.50 points), Williams College second (152 points), and Keene State placing third (53 points), the Jumbos emerged as the second best NESCAC team in the weekend's competition.
"The meet went well despite our standings," senior co-captain Lauren Esposito said. "We were shooting for third, but certain things happened with other teams. There's only so much you can predict."
While Wheaton and Williams were expected to capture first and second, Keene State provided an unexpected challenge. Two of the Keene State's athletes scored a combined 46 points, creating a mini-powerhouse, while several of the team's other athletes are of national caliber. Though the loss to Keene State was disappointing, coach Kristin Morwick said the weekend was productive.
"We're a young team and still developing," Morwick said. "We will develop into a competitive team on the New England level, but based on this past weekend's meet we're just not there yet."
Still, several athletes had impressive weekends. Despite an aggravated hamstring, sophomore Jessica Trombly contributed 18 of the team's 49 points. Trombly ran her Personal Record (PR) in the 55 hurdles en route to a third place finish, raced to third in the 200 dash, and anchored the 4x400 relay which also placed third.
Joining her teammate in the 55 hurdles finals was sophomore Amy Spiker, who captured seventh with a PR of 9.19. In the 400 dash, junior co-captain Myriam Claudio posted a PR (59.40) as she raced to fourth place. Freshman Sika Henry joined Claudio in the 400, placing eighth in a time of 1:01.29. Sophomore Shushanna Mignott leaped to a huge PR in the triple jump (36') on her way to sixth place, a mark that almost qualified her for Nationals.
In the 600 run, sophomore Emily Bersin and Esposito captured fourth and seventh places, respectively. Bersin set a PR (1:39.60) as well as setting a season best split in the 4x400 relay. Junior Mary Nodine rounded out the distance events as she raced to sixth place in the 1000 run (3:04.46).
Amongst the day's top performances were those put forth by the teams' two pentathletes, senior Sarah Leistikow and freshman Melissa Graveley, who had seven combined PR's. Leistikow ran a PR in the hurdles, jumped to a season best in the long jump and ran a PR in the 800m race (2:32). Graveley leaped to PR's in the high jump (5' 1/4") and the long jump (15' 2''), bettering her mark by more than two feet in the latter. She also threw for a PR in the shot put and raced to a season best in the hurdles. One of the difficulties of the pentathlon is that it runs all day, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Leistikow and Graveley competed fiercely, ending up third and sixth, respectively.
"In the pentathlon you're competing all day, so you don't often have time to stop and think about each event." Graveley said. "It's a bit of a hard day, but it's very rewarding if you do well, and I had a lot of fun competing,"
The team is slated to compete in a few more postseason events; the All New England Championships will be held this weekend and the ECACs will take place the following weekend. Some Jumbos are even looking ahead to the National Championships. Claudio is close to qualifying in the 400 race as is Trombly in both the 400 and 55 hurdles. Both the 4x400 and Distance Medley relays are also vying for a shot at Nationals.
With the regular indoor season culminating in the Division III Championships, the team is starting to look towards the outdoor season. It will afford the squad a chance to flex their track muscle in a more comfortable venue and enable it to enact some retribution given the moderately disappointing end to the indoor season.
"We're a much better outdoor team than we are indoor. New England track and field has gotten out of control performance-wise. It's ridiculously competitive," Morwick said. "That's why even though we fell just short of accomplishing our goal, there were some real highlights in there that made the future seem brighter."
