Distance Medley Relay, Women's track and field
The distance medley relay (DMR) squad, composed of sophomore Amy Wilfert, senior Halsey Stebbins, senior tri-captain Jackie Ferry and sophomore Stephanie McNamara, won the Div. III title with a time of 11:46.88, eight hundredths of a second better than the representatives from the University of St. Thomas.
McNamara is the only runner to have repeated as a champion, as last year's DMR-winning foursome was made up of her and three seniors. This year's time was a tenth of a second off from last year's, but it was still over a second better than the time the squad recorded to automatically qualify for Nationals at ECACs a week prior. The Jumbos established themselves as a national power in the event two years ago when the DMR team broke the NCAA meet record en route to a second-place finish.
The group's performance helped Tufts to an overall fifth-place finish, the best showing the team has seen under coach Kristen Morwick. Wilfert, Stebbins and Ferry earned the first All-American honors of their careers, while McNamara picked up her fifth before posting a runner-up performance the following day in the 5,000-meter run for number six.
Jesse Faller, Men's track and field
With two All-American performances, junior Jesse Faller helped lift the men's indoor track and field team to a 14th-place finish out of 74 scoring teams at the NCAA Div. III Championships over the weekend.
On Friday, Faller ran the anchor leg for the Jumbos' distance medley relay (DMR) team, which finished third with a time of 10:04.25. Faller inherited the baton in eighth place before running a 4:08 split — marking a personal record — to surge into the top three.
The next day, Faller came back to run fourth in the 5,000-meter run. Faller's time was 14:35.46, just four seconds out of first place. A notoriously strong closer, Faller stayed with the pack for the majority of the race before kicking it into high gear along with his fellow elite runners.
By placing in the top eight in two different events, Faller earned two All-American distinctions, the first two of his indoor career.
