Women squeak by Colby for second place finish at NESCACs

The goal that the women's track and field team set heading into Williamstown, Massachusetts was to place second at the NESCAC Championship meet. While the weather did not cooperate, the Jumbos did, as they reached their goal and took the number two spot for the second year in a row. They did so by running with individuals breaking both school and personal records along the way.

Spreading its namesake as an athletic juggernaut, Williams came out on top with a convincing 226 points. This time last year, the Jumbos squeaked by Colby to claim second in a tight contest, however that was not the case this year, as the White Mules fell 40.5 points behind a Tufts squad that racked up 150 points.

"Overall, it was a really good team effort, with people scoring all around the board and doing well," coach Kristen Morwick said. "I had us getting 135 points going into the meet and we outperformed that, and that's just something that doesn't happen."

Huge points were amassed in the sprints, an area that the Jumbos knew they would be strong in going into the weekend. Freshman Rachel Bloom had a PR in the 200 dash with her time of 25.85, which put her second overall. Bloom also took second in the 100 dash, crossing the line in 12.78.

Senior Myriam Claudio followed Bloom in both of the races, taking third in the 100 (13.12) and fifth in the 200 (26.71). Claudio also broke her own school record when she vaulted to third in the pole vault at a height of 10' 6".

The 400 race saw three Jumbos score points. Junior Jessica Trombly came in second in 57.64, freshman Katie Gadkowski secured fourth with a time of 1:00.35, and junior Katie Higley snuck in at seventh (1:01.18). Gadkowski also contributed points in the 200 with her eighth place finish in 27.28.

Trombly took top honors in the 100 hurdles, winning in a time of 14.96. Freshman Melissa Graveley also scored in the event, taking seventh in 16.97. In other hurdles successes, junior Emily Bersin sped to first in the 400 hurdles in 1:05.03. Bersin was leading for most of the race, but late in the race she ran into a hurdle, relinquishing the top spot.

Even in the relay realm, the sprints performed remarkably well taking first place in the 4x100. Comprised of Claudio, Bloom, sophomore Ayako Sawanobori, and Trombly, the 4x100 team won the event in a blistering time of 48.89. Not only did the time qualify the team for Nationals, but it also broke the school record.

The field events also garnered points for the team in both the jumps and throws. Graveley leapt to a mark of 5' 4.25" in the high jump to clinch second. Joining Graveley was sophomore Sika Henry who met a height of 5' 0.25" to get fifth. Through adverse weather conditions, Trombly snagged second with a jump of 17' 1.25", while graduate student Sarah Leistikow made a jump of 15' 9.5", good for seventh.

"In some events where people really needed to do well, people stepped up. They [Graveley and Henry] both pulled it out in the high jumps," Morwick said. "In some other events it was tough, the long jump and discus were seriously affected by the weather."

Lashing rain early in the morning inhibited long discus throws, but the Jumbos were still able to get three into the scoring eight. Junior Kate Gluckman was the top Jumbo in the discus coming in third with a lob of 121' 9". Fellow junior Gwen Campbell was two places behind with her toss of 118' 7", while sophomore Katie Antle took seventh with a mark of 115' 9". Though she was one place out of scoring points, sophomore Jessica Colby broke the school record in the hammer throw (134' 3").

Another school record was broken by senior Mary Nodine in the 3000 steeplechase. Nodine's time of 11:27.49 brought her out on top and also gave her a National qualifying time. Competing in the event for the second time, junior Lauren Caputo was one spot behind Nodine in a 15-second PR of 11:37.01.

With the contributions of these and other Jumbos, the squad was able to accomplish a goal of retaining second place in the NESCAC. As the culmination of the spring season, the NESCAC Championships mark an unofficial end to the track season for the team. What remains is for individuals to make their mark further in the postseason and try for Nationals.

"As the biggest meet of the spring season, NESCAC is what we shoot for during the spring season," Morwick said. "Right now all that's left is for individuals to perform in Div. III NE, Div. I NE, and ECACs. Trombly will go to Nationals, and I think that with more chances left this season there are others that could join her."