In the only meet before Winter break, the women's track team set some great baselines at the Jay Carisella Invitational this Saturday. Hosted by Northeastern, the event served as an opportunity for athletes to compete and burn all the energy that has built up over the course of the fall season. The best way to see how the work put in during the offseason paid off was to test it in competition, and the Jumbos started off the season with outstanding energy.
There was no team scoring involved in the meet, so it was purely a chance for individual athletes to measure up against competition from all divisions and show off all the hard work that they have done in the past few months.
Coming off a very successful fall conditioning program and cross country season, the team is well prepared for the challenges ahead.
"From what I've seen from both sides of the program, there was a definitely a higher level of intensity this fall," junior Kelly Allen said. "The throwing program was more involved than the past few years and the results in our strength are substantial. The sprinters are coming into this year in better shape as well. We knew coming into the year that we can do great things if we are willing to do all of the work."
Junior Lilly Fisher started the meet off with a great performance in the 5,000−meter race, running at 17:58.25 and finishing in third place. Using her fitness from cross country, Fisher was able to run a personal best in the event. The event was the only one that Fisher will compete in this season because she will be abroad during the spring semester.
"I think losing the girls going abroad will change the dynamic of the workout groups," sophomore Madeline Carey said. "Our pure distance runners will definitely miss having Lilly there to work out with. The smaller workout groups will definitely be different and it will be a challenge for us to adjust."
Allen picked up where she left off last season, finishing in the top five in both the weight throw and the shot put. She finished third in the shot put, throwing 41 feet, 4.5 inches (12.61 meters) and fifth in the weight throw at 49 feet, 11 inches (15.21 meters). She was the top Div. III finisher in both events. Allen improved greatly toward the end of the season last year as she honed her technique. Working mostly off strength built during the fall, Allen set a solid baseline to begin the year.
One of the highlights of the team last year, the 4x400−meter relay, was also able to notch a top−five finish on Saturday. Juniors Alyssa Corrigan and Samantha Bissonnette were consistent performers on last year's team. Joining them were two new faces in freshmen Caitlin Pohl and Lauren Gormer. The team's time of 4:10.13 was good for fifth place overall and tops in Div. III. With a limited amount of raw speed work to this point, the time reflects the athletes' general fitness and work they have put in.
In an impressive collegiate debut, freshman Christina Harvey notched a sixth−place finish in the long jump with her leap of 5 feet, 11.75 inches. She also earned 13th place in the 55−meter dash.
In addition to her fine 4x400m leg, Gormer was also able to earn a tie for seventh place in the 500−meter event. Her debut time of 1:22.32 is very encouraging.
Senior tri−captain Anya Price, also coming off a strong cross country season, earned a sixth−place finish in the 5,000−meter race with a time of 18:15.57. The event featured many of the top cross country runners on the squad, including sophomores Carey and Abby Barker. Carey was just behind Price with 18:22.05, while Barker ran 18:35.89 — good for 13th place.
"I think we all wanted to hit as many qualifying times as possible," Carey said. "We all wanted to be under 18:44 for the ECAC qualifier. That was the general plan. Hitting qualifiers so we don't have to run 5Ks every weekend will help us stay fresh.
"Now we get to take some time off and get healthy. Then we can build up a base and start doing workouts in January. This will help us have a little mellower indoor season and be fresher all the way until outdoors."
The final top−10 finish for the Jumbos came in the pole vault. Senior tri−captain Katherine Tang finished tied for ninth with a jump of 9 feet, 6.25 inches. As with many of the field events that are so heavily dependent on technique, the effort is a solid start for the senior.
The meet enabled the athletes to set baselines for their respective events in a low−pressure environment, a barometer for where they stand after fall conditioning.
"It was just a chance to get great baseline performances so we can look back later and see how much we have improved," Allen said. "We have been practicing for months so it was great to get some competition to break up all the training. With another big break of competition coming up, the meet provided us with something to look forward to and now we can look at our results and move forward."
With their next meet coming after winter break, all of the Jumbos now have the ability to work on the things they struggled with last weekend, while maintaining those that went well.
"There were a lot of strong performances in all of our different training groups," Allen said. "At this point in the year we aren't looking for personal bests. We are in the middle of training so we got to see what people can do on any given day. The results speak well to what we can do when we are ready to peak."
That peak will not come for a while though, and the time in between will provide plenty of room for improvement. The Jumbos will return with a full squad on Jan. 14 for the Tufts Invitational, the team's first home meet of the season.
"We all have a great base and great base to work with," Carey said. "We are very strong and that will help us a lot going into indoors. We have a lot of depth pushing us in workouts and we are all very fit. Having qualified for nationals as a team in cross country, our mid distance and distance programs feel that we can compete with top girls on the track as well."
