Jumbos emerge victorious in weekend Invitational

After engaging in a contentious battle with NESCAC rival Williams College last weekend for first place, the women's track and field team earned the top spot at last weekend's Tufts Invitational. With 173 points at the meet's end, the Jumbos blew away the second place team, Springfield College, by 63.5 points. Though the competition was not as fierce as that encountered last weekend, the results were nonetheless satisfying as the team delves deeper into the season.

"The thing is that every race was competitive, but just not all from the same team," coach Kristen Morwick said. "We were better across the board, we spread ourselves around more and that really helped."

In the distance events, weeks of intense practices have started to pay off, resulting in a stronger distance contingent. In the 1000 meter, junior Lauren Caputo (3:08.16) and senior Danielle Perrin (3:13.15) finished third and fifth respectively.

Caputo came off a week of sickness and will most likely post better marks given a full week of practice. Perrin was also impressive in the 1500, and came in second overall with a time of 5:00.51, beating out Kristy Wechter of the University of Southern Maine by 0.12 of a second. Both of Perrin's races resulted in personal records.

Senior Mary Nodine was the victor in the 3000 with a time of 11:06.28. She was more than 16 seconds faster than the second place finisher. Senior tri-captain Lauren Tormey (11:53.65) and senior Kathryn Hughes (11:55.47) also contributed points in the 3000 with their sixth and seventh place finishes.

"We're generally strongest in sprints, and in the past distance has been a weaker point, but that's also because it's the most competitive region in Div. III for long distance/cross country," Tormey said. "However, this season the distance squad is much improved. We came closer to Williams than we have in the recent past and might even have potential to beat them."

Given the lighter nature of the competition, Morwick was able to mix up the events slightly and put people in races which they normally would not take part in. This included putting sophomore Sika Henry (2:26.36) in the 800, where she finished an impressive fifth, one place behind fellow sophomore Katie Sheedy (2:24.17). Junior Jess Trombly won the race in convincing fashion in 2:19.70, exactly four seconds ahead of the next finisher for a PR.

Trombly also had a banner race in the 55, and won the event in 7.42 and missed the national qualifying mark by 0.07 of a second. In the 55 hurdles, her winning mark of 8.67 was 0.02 of a second off the national qualifying mark. The long jump proved a repeat of last weekend, as Trombly came in second to the same person by the same distance_one centimeter. Including her anchor leg for the 4x200 relay team that came in second overall, Trombly accounted for 46 of the 173 Jumbo points.

In the 4x400 relay, freshman Rachel Bloom ran the fastest split on a team that ran a quick time of 4:09.66. Bloom (26.87) also had a great race in the 200, and came in second behind Mount Holyoke's Langhan Dee. In the 400, junior Katie Higley finished highest for the Jumbos at fourth overall in 1:02.65. Along with sophomore Ayako Sawanobori (1:02.92) and junior Christine Hendrickson (1:04.67), Higley had a PR in the 400.

Rounding out the long sprints/middle distance events, the 500 provided a chance for sophomore Claudia Clarke to perform as she dashed to third overall in 1:21.75. Junior Emily Bersin followed close behind at fifth in 1:22.86, while sophomore Meghan McCarthy was one place back in 1:22.93.

Sophomore Katie Antle showed continued dominance in the shot put, lobbing the shot 40' 11'' in her third place finish. All four of the competitors in the shot_Antle, junior Gwen Campbell, sophomore Jessica Colby, and junior tri-captain Jessica Gauthier_have qualified for the Div. III Championship meet in the event. Gauthier was the lone Jumbo points scorer in the weight throw, and her effort of 41' 4'' landed her in fifth place overall.

In the jumps, sophomore Melissa Graveley provided points with her leap of 4' 11.75'', which was good for sixth place. Newcomers to the triple jump, freshmen Molly Whittington (32' 9.5'') and Daniela Fairchild (32' 8.25'') proved a dynamic duo as they finished second and third overall.

While the results of the meet were encouraging, the competition was not the toughest the Jumbos will see throughout the season. Cortland, usually a challenging opponent, didn't seem to bring its best to the Gantcher Center this time around. However, when it travels to the Bowdoin Invitational this upcoming weekend, the squad will come up against a better and deeper squad in the Polar Bears. Though Springfield College and Smith College will also be in attendance, Bowdoin will provide the real challenge as well as a NESCAC rivalry.

"It'll be a head to head battle with Bowdoin with Springfield stealing a few spots and points," Morwick said. "This is one meet we really go at before Div. III's. We have more quality, but we'll need to strategize to beat them. We're running better and our girls are more confident, I think it'll be a good one for us."