The women's track and field team travelled south on Saturday to MIT's Harry G. Steinbrenner track for the first annual Sean Collier Invitational.
The Tufts sprinting squad had a strong day, with a particularly solid performance in the 100-meter dash. Sophomore Alexis Harrison, who ranked in the national top-25 in the indoor 60-meter dash, continued her impressive career in the 100-meter dash by winning the event with a time of 12.49. The Jumbos also received top-10 finishes from junior Christina Harvey, who finished sixth, sophomore Marilyn Allen and senior tri-captain Anya Kaufmann, who tied for seventh. Allen came back later in the day to take second in the 100-meter hurdles, with a time of 14.70. In the same heat, senior Jana Hieber placed third, running a time of 14.90. Harvey, Kaufmann, freshman Bianca Rescalvo and Harrison later came back as a unit in the 4x100-meter relay to take second place, running a new season-best and ECAC-qualifying time of 48.77.
Around the oval, the Jumbos placed a slew of mid-distance runners in the top six of the 800-meter. Junior Isa Cuervo led the mid-distance women with her fourth-place finish in 2:20.15. Junior Lauren Gormer was slower out of the third heat, but her time of 2:20.18 was impressive nonetheless. Sophomore Sydney Smith crossed the line right behind Gormer, running 2:20.41. 5,000-meter specialist sophomore Audrey Gould moved down in distance to race the 1,500-meter, and, after a strong start, finished in second place with an ECAC-qualifying and new personal-best time of 4:48.08.
In the 5,000-meter, the Jumbos placed three women in the top four. Senior Abby Barker took top honors in the race with a time of 18:08.74. Senior Lauren Creath and sophomore Michelle de Mars were third and fourth, respectively, running times of 18:37.42 and 18:58.65. Senior tri-captain Laura Peterson also had an impressive day in the 3000-meter steeplechase, placing second at 11:24.88. She was followed by sophomore Olivia Beltrani who placed third, and freshman Lindsay Atkeson, who placed fourth.
"Our steeplechasers [Peterson, Beltrani and Atkeson] all had pretty stellar performances, putting them in competitive positions for the meets to come, as did Alexis [Harrison], Audrey [Gould] and our 4x100 team," Cuervo said.
Although MIT practically swept the field events, the Jumbos still had a number of great performances. Freshman Keren Hendel, who has already cemented herself as one of the greatest pole vaulters in Tufts history, took fifth in the pole vault with a jump of 10' 11 3/4". In the throws, sophomore Robin Armstrong again displayed her power as Tufts' top long thrower with a fifth-place finish in the discus and a fourth-place finish in the hammer throw.
"I think it would help us a lot to be confident [in thinking] that we are talented enough as a team to do some really great things," Harvey said. "It's also important to trust the work we have been putting in since the fall."
Though team score was not kept at this meet, it served as a dress rehearsal for the most important meet of the year for the Jumbos: the outdoor NESCAC championships. The defending NESCAC champions hope to retain their title this weekend at Colby College.
"This was a small meet, so it was a good tune-up competition for NESCACs because it is exactly how the meet will be next week," Cuervo said. "Having only to travel to MIT perhaps added to the extra rest and tapering that we begin this week as we head into the meet."
"I think if we bring positive energy and confidence to NESCACs, then we will be happy with our performance because the talent is definitely there," Harvey added.
