Many women's track and field participants qualify for postseason

In another non-scoring venture, the women's track and field team got more cooperation from Mother Nature at the Wesleyan Invitational last weekend. Though the day started on a rainy and cold note -- sending some athletes inside to take part in field events -- the end of the day saw sun break through the clouds and some Jumbos coming through with equally bright performances.

"There wasn't great competition, but it was a good meet," coach Kristen Morwick said. "It was non-scoring, but [assistant coach Rebecca] Reb's dad scored it unofficially and we most likely would have won."

Echoing a theme pervasive throughout both the indoor and outdoor seasons, the throwers posted a slew of PRs and impressive performances. The squad flexed some throwing muscle in the shot put, capturing the first through fourth, sixth, and seventh spots overall.

Leading the way in the shot was sophomore Katie Antle, who won the event with a toss of 38' 4," followed by junior Gwen Campbell who posted a PR of 38' 0.75''. Juniors Kate Gluckman and co-captain Jessica Gauthier rounded out the top four with lobs of 37' 9.5'' and 36,' respectively.

Gluckman and Antle paired up to storm the discus, claiming the top two spots. Both qualified through Division I, Gluckman did so with a throw of 126', and Antle made it with a mark a 124' 8."

"The throwers are really looking great. As it stands, they're at the top of the throws list in the NESCAC and could do very well," Morwick said.

The inclement weather early on affected some of the field events. The high jump continued outside -- even in highly unfavorable conditions -- while the long jump, triple jump, and pole vault were all moved indoors.

The change of venue did little to damper the spirits of the Jumbos, as many achieved personal bests in the field events. In her spring track debut, senior Myriam Claudio garnered first in the pole vault, with fellow Jumbo freshman Katie Gadkowski taking an impressive second place overall in her first attempt at the event.

Junior Jess Trombly leapt to first in the long jump, hitting the ECAC mark with her finish of 16' 7.25." In addition to winning the long jump, Trombly also took first in the 100 meter dash with a time of 12.71, and in the 100 high hurdles with a time of 15.50. With the finishes, Trombly has qualified through Division I in the hurdles and through ECACs in the 100 dash.

Freshman Rachel Bloom and Claudio also qualified for ECACs in the 100, finishing second and third in times of 13.08 and 13.14 respectively.

Graduate student Sarah Leistikow was the next Jumbo to finish in the long jump, garnering third with a jump of 15' 9." Senior co-captain Zerlina Maxwell rounded out the top three Jumbo finishers with a leap of 14' 10.75," good for fifth place. Leistikow also competed in the triple jump -- for the first time - and recorded an impressive second place finish (33' 5.75").

Amongst other first-time performances, was a blistering run put in by sophomore Claudia Clarke in the 400 intermediate hurdles. In her first outing, Clarke ran away with the event, with a time of 1:10.19 qualifying her through ECACs. Sophomore Katie Sheedy was close on Clarke's heels, finishing second in 1:10.77.

In The 400, junior Emily Bersin finish third overall with a PR of 1:00.35 and was just missed the Division I qualifying standard. In the long distance events, the Jumbos garnered the fourth through eighth spots, with seniors Danielle Perrin and Mary Nodine leading the way. Finishing in times of 4:54.44 and 4:54.62 respectively, Perrin and Nodine both met the qualifying mark for ECACs.

While many Jumbos have achieved postseason qualifying marks, many are looking to get farther into the postseason or looking to better the marks they've already established. Though it seems as if the season just started, this weekend marks the last regular season meet for the squad. The Connecticut College Invitational will attract teams such as Conn. College, Brandeis, Coast Guard, and RPI.

"It's the first scoring meet we'll have outdoors and with NESCACs next week it'll be a last chance qualifier for some. We're going for qualifying times, we're not strategizing to win the meet," Morwick said.