Women's Track and Field | As outdoor season begins, Jumbos eye run at NESCAC championship

    As the women's track and field team begins its spring season, its motto could easily be "Keep the good times rolling."
    Coming off another extremely successful indoor season, where the good times were measured on stopwatches from regular season meets in Medford to Nationals in Terre Haute, Ind., the Jumbos are eager to transfer over to the 400-meter oval and keep their success going.
    "I think we're going to be a much better outdoor team … and I think we showed really great signs of that indoors," coach Kristen Morwick said. "We ended indoor with such a nice feeling that I think people are really excited for outdoor ... I think we're a better outdoor team right now than we were last year."
    With a level of talent that spans across all events and distances, Tufts has its eyes set on one of the few feats the team hasn't accomplished in the past few years: a NESCAC championship. In the past three years, the Jumbos have finished second, third and second at the conference meet and have had to see rival Williams take home the title all three years.
    "We really think we will be gunning for [the NESCAC title] this year," sophomore Stephanie McNamara said. "We have the ability to go after it, and it's just a matter of finding depth in the right events."
    McNamara and the rest of the foursome that captured a national championship in the distance medley relay in Terre Haute on March 13 — sophomore Amy Wilfert, senior Halsey Stebbins and senior tri-captain Jackie Ferry — all figure to be major contributors for the Jumbos this spring. A year ago at outdoor Nationals, McNamara clinched All-American honors after finishing eighth in the 1,500 meters, and followed up with a strong showing this winter, finishing second in New England in the 5,000-meter run. Wilfert showed tremendous development during the winter, finishing third in the mile at New Englands. The distance events, however, may be where Tufts' depth is a bit lacking.
    "The depth of our distance events isn't great, but the quality is there," Morwick said. "Some of our biggest competitors are really strong where we're not, but then we can hit them up in other areas."
    One of those areas is in the sprints, where junior Logan Crane will look to defend her NESCAC 100-meter and long jump crowns. Another Jumbo coming off a strong indoor season, Crane took second in the 55-meter dash and third in the 200-meter at New Englands. And while she was unable to post the cut for indoor Nationals, Crane will be looking to build on her progress and make the trip in May.
    "Logan had some physical issues that she was trying to fight back from [during the indoor season]," Morwick said. "She was really starting to come on at the end of the season. It was too bad — we needed one more week with her — but I think she's going to have a great outdoor season. Last year was sort of the opposite — she had such a great indoor season and there was nothing left for outdoor, but this year she's really ready to go ... I think she's going to be great."
    Also in the 200-meter dash, junior Andrea Ferri, back in shape after studying abroad in the fall, hopes to improve on her 10th-place finish at last spring's NESCAC meet. In the 400-meter dash, sophomore Andrea Caruth, who captured 10th at New Englands during the indoor season, will only be getting faster as the team heads outside.
    Caruth is also one of the team's best hurdlers, and after finishing second in the 400-meter hurdles at NESCACs last spring, she has her eye on the conference title. Ferri's strength also lies in the 100-meter hurdles, as she finished third in the conference last spring. And after finishing fourth in the 55-meter hurdles at New Englands, freshman Nakeisha Jones could be the most talented hurdler within the group.
    Jones, however, is not one-dimensional — far from it, in fact. In the indoor triple jump, she not only won the New England title but came in fourth at Nationals, good for her first All-American award. Fellow freshman Dayorsha Collins went 5'1 1/4" in the high jump during the winter, which placed her second at New Englands; the height was better than the top height recorded at last spring's NESCAC meet. With the two freshmen sensations, Tufts now has immense talent in events that have not always been strong suits for the team. Both first-years are especially motivated for the outdoor season following Nationals performances that didn't quite meet their expectations.
    "We are just looking forward to outdoor and hopefully making it to Nationals outdoor," Jones said. "We just hope to come back stronger and better and hopefully at outdoor, we can come out victorious."
    "Outdoors, they're not only going to improve, they're going to be a major impact on our team score," McNamara said. "I really see them excelling."
    Carly Helfand contributed reporting to this article.