The women's indoor track and field team heads into the winter season with a team full of eager underclassmen and confident veterans. After finishing third, behind Williams and MIT last winter for the second year in a row in the New England Div. III Championships, the team is looking to do even better this year.
The team won the regional title for the first time in the 2007-08 season, and the current seniors hope to find the same success this season.
"Every year we do as well as we can throughout the season, and we go out to win the New England Div. III Championships," senior distance runner Jen Yih said. "It is more plausible this year than other years because we will have a strong throwing program and lots of strong distance runners."
The winter season officially started on Nov. 1, though the cross country season had not yet ended for the distance runners, who had their final meet on Nov. 13. These team members now face a short turn-around before joining the rest of the track and field team in practice.
The team has three official captains at the moment, though it is likely that a fourth will be named.
Senior cross country co-captain Amy Wilfert will have to wait a bit longer to join the track ranks after qualifying for the NCAA Div. III Championships with a sixth-place time of 22:35.9 on the six-kilometer regional championship course. Wilfert will compete in Iowa on Saturday, alongside men's cross country sophomore Kyle Marks.
Wilfert and junior jumper Nakeisha Jones both qualified for and raced in the NCAA Championships in the past two indoor track and field seasons.
The loss of five of last year's seniors will hit the team hard, especially with the loss of sprinter and jumper Logan Crane (LA '10) and multi-competitor Andrea Ferri (LA '10). However, sophomore thrower Kelly Allen, who repeatedly showcased her abilities last season by setting and resetting records, will step into a bigger role for the throwing squad. The team also boasts many new faces on its roster.
"The freshmen look really talented this year," senior tri-captain Rosanna Xia said. "The freshmen on the cross country team this year have proven themselves in distance, and I'm excited to see the other freshmen compete for the first time in December. We have a lot more depth on the team this year, especially in the mid-distance group. The sprint and jumping groups are looking really good as well."
Yih thinks that the mix of strong under- and upperclassmen will help lead the distance program to success.
"Our distance program is going to be a lot stronger than it was last year," Yih said. "Last year at championship meets, we didn't have strong showings. Other than Wilfert, we didn't have too many people who were bringing in points for the team. But this season, the freshmen are very fast and the returning runners are a lot stronger."
Though the track and field team kicks off its season on Dec. 4 at Northeastern's Husky Invite, the real competition does not fully start until 2011.
"We're all going into the season very excited, the morale is high and the team dynamic is already awesome," Xia said. "We just have to keep working to improve as individuals and as a team."
