The women's track team produced several excellent individual performances at the Open New England Championship at Boston University this past weekend, continuing to improve with two weeks left before nationals. The Jumbos placed 16th in a competitive field comprised of teams from all three athletic divisions, though they were more focused on hitting individual marks and working toward qualifying for the national meet.
The star of the day was senior pole vaulter Heather Theiss, who tied the school record with a jump of 12-0 1/2, good for fourth in the competition and 10th nationally.
"I got 12 feet for the second week in a row, and I feel that 12-6 is now a possibility," said Theiss, who has already qualified for nationals. "It was a surprise to be honest — I wasn't feeling that good, but once the bar got set at 12 feet, my head got into it and turned everything around."
Senior Nakeisha Jones also placed fourth with a leap of 39-1 1/3 in the triple jump. That placed Jones seventh nationally, and left her in good shape heading into the final two weeks of the season.
The throwing team had a characteristically solid performance, led by junior Kelly Allen and senior RonkeOyekunle. Allen finished sixth in the weight throw with a toss of 53-3 3/4, and she and Oyekunle came in 13th and 17th, respectively, in the shot put.
But the strongest performances of the weekend came from the two relay squads: the Distance Medley Relay (DMR) and the 4x400-meter teams. Both foursomes eclipsed their season bests and are on the cusp of qualifying for nationals.
The DMR team of senior tri-captain Anya Price, junior Sam Bissonnette and sophomores Jana Heiber and Laura Peterson
shattered its season record by 20 seconds, good for fifth place at the meet.
The 4x400-meter group — which consists of Heiber and Bissonnette along with junior Alyssa Corrigan and senior Dayorsha Collins — logged a time of 3:56.57, good for 10th at the meet. The time was two seconds faster than the squad's previous season best.
"We improved by two seconds, putting us on the brink of nationals," Corrigan said. "Next week will be huge for DMR and [4x400]. Everything comes down to next week for us."
The Jumbos will make one last push to reach their individual goals next week when they travel to New York City for the ECAC Championships.
"People have already qualified for nationals, need to qualify for nationals or are just trying to run a good last meet," Corrigan said. "While we always try to have a team focus, next week certainly has an individual feel to it."
