"Almost, but not quite" was the theme for the women's track team at the New England Div. III Championships at Bowdoin on Saturday. Freshman Nakeisha Jones was the only Jumbo athlete to register a win in her event, and despite a bevy of high finishes from her teammates, it was close but not quite enough for Tufts (108 points) to match Williams (118) and MIT (134) and defend its New England title.
"I think that all of us tried our best performance-wise," junior Logan Crane said. "We gave it whatever we could. It's disappointing that we didn't come in first -- we were really hoping that we could defend our title -- but MIT put up a great fight. It happens, and we just have to learn from the mistakes we made. But overall, I think we put in a really good team effort."
Jones' jump of 38'8 1/4" was not only good for first place but also marks the second time this season that she has surpassed the NCAA automatic qualifying mark in the event (38'6 3/4").
"It feels good," Jones said. "I just wanted to get a win for the team because I knew we needed the points. I wanted to do my part and contribute."
While the Jumbos did not have any other first-place finishes, they still had a number of positives to take out of the meet, as many recorded quality performances and several scored in multiple events. One notable performer to do so was senior tri-captain Paula Dormon, who scored in both the shot put and weight throw. While it was Dormon's third-place distance of 40'3 1/4" in the shot put that earned points, her sixth-place heave in the weight throw might have been more impressive, as her distance of 47'3 3/4" was almost a foot longer than Tufts' previous school record.
"Obviously, it would've been sweeter if it was last year [when the team came in first], but at the same time it was a big accomplishment for me," Dormon said. "My teammates were really proud of me, and I was really excited a lot about it."
Crane also placed in the top eight in multiple events, taking second in the 55-meter dash with a time of 7.35 seconds, third in the 200-meter with a time of 25.88 seconds and sixth in the long jump with a distance of 16'10 3/4". Nevertheless, Crane was not satisfied with her performance.
"I was disappointed not in the places but in the times," said Crane, who was the New England champion in the 55-meter dash and long jump last year. "It's nice to win an event, but right now I'm also trying to get my best performances so I can make Nationals. I didn't get much of a break [between events], so my long jump was shot. If the schedule had permitted, I think I would've done better, but I have to take what I did and hope to do better in the next two meets."
In the distance events, sophomores Stephanie McNamara and Amy Wilfert made impacts as usual. McNamara took second in the 5,000-meter run with a time of 17:37.18 and fifth in the 1,000 meters with a mark of 3:03.00, while Wilfert hit an NCAA provisional qualifying mark and finished third in the mile run with a time of 5:04.15 and also finished right behind McNamara with a time of 3:03.92 to take sixth in the 1,000 meters.
"It was a tough meet because we had so many people trying to double and triple in events," said McNamara, who won the 1,000-meter run last year. "I was in the 5k first and came back a couple hours later and ran the 1,000 [meter]. It was a hard double, and I know others were doing doubles and triples. I got points for our team, so I was happy overall with that; it was a team day."
As expected, Jones was not the only freshman to contribute to the Jumbos' efforts, as Dayorsha Collins' high jump mark of 5'2 1/4" was good for second and was a mere two inches short of the first-place finisher. Classmate Heather Theiss also had a solid day, recording a best mark of 10'8" in the pole vault to finish fourth.
The Jumbos also saw a number of good performances in the relays, including a second place by the 4x400 crew and third-place finishes in the 4x800 and 4x200.
Tufts will now look to the Open New England Championships next weekend as a chance to get more people qualified for Nationals with ECACs and NCAAs just around the corner. With Div. I, II and III competitors racing on BU's banked track, the Jumbos should be able to meet some of their goals.
"Everyone's pumped for next weekend," McNamara said. "We're going for a great time in the DMR in order to get us into Nationals, and others will be doing open events, so that's really exciting. It's always a great meet."
