Women's Track | Five Jumbos win events at UMass Lowell

A game that doesn't "count" for a team's standings can sometimes lead to sloppy and lackadaisical performances from athletes because the actual outcome doesn't matter.

But Saturday's unscored George Davis Invitational at UMass Lowell was quite the opposite.

In fact, the team featured 18 top-five finishes in a wide array of events, as well as five first-place finishes. The meet was also the first of the season that was unmarred by cold or rainy conditions, and the warm weather undoubtedly helped all of the competitors.

Despite a minor headwind, the team fared particularly well in the short sprints. In the 4x100-meter relay, freshmen Rita Donohoe and Bianca Rescalvo, sophomore Alexis Harrison and senior tri-captain Anya Kaufmann combined for an impressive time of 49.21 to win the event.

"Our 4x100 [team] has been working on improving, and we recorded a pretty good time, but we're still working on improving that [time]," Kaufmann said. "As a whole, the meet went pretty well. [There's] definitely still some room for improvement, but we feel pretty confident."

The most impressive performances of the day, however, came from individuals. Senior Jana Hieber continued her impressive string of spring performances with a victory and a pair of top-two finishes. On the track, Hieber won the 400-meter dash with a time of 56.72, while in the pit, she took second place in both the 100-meter hurdles (with a time of 15.19) and long jump (18' 1 1/2").

Meanwhile, the Jumbos demonstrated complete dominance in the 3,000-meter run, with four runners in the top 10. Sophomore Audrey Gold won with a time of 10:16.60, followed by sophomore teammate Olivia Beltrani, who finished at 10:32.28. Rounding out the top-four Tufts finishers in the event were freshman Kelley Fahey, who finished fifth with a time of 10:54.47, and sophomore Michele de Mars, who finished seventh with a time of 11:03.20.

The team also scored very well in field events, which saw exceptionally strong individual performances. Senior Robin Armstrong won the hammer throw with a toss of 142' 10" and placed fifth in the discus with a heave of 116' 6," and sophomore Julia Rogers finished second in the pole vault with a leap of 9' 6 1/4."

"I was working on some form things [at UMass Lowell] and am definitely moving forward and looking toward NESCACs," Armstrong said. "All we want to do ... is throw consistently because that will help us score points. It's important to stay consistent — not have a huge day at a meet that doesn't really matter and then perform at a lower standard during NESCACs."

The NESCAC championships are now just a week and a half away, and the defending-champion Jumbos are feeling the pressure to recapture last season's form and cruise to another conference title.

"This past week, as a team, we looked at our current standing in the NESCAC, and if we are able to score as we have been, we'll be in a position to win the meet," Armstrong said. "That obviously gives us a lot of confidence, and our team is really excited about competing."

Kaufmann wants to make sure the team stays motivated, however, and understands that a conference-championship-level performance is something that can't be taken for granted. In order to claim its second-straight NESCAC title in outdoor track, Tufts will have to go through Williams, who is currently ranked 11th nationally.

"We don't have a large enough lead on the other NESCAC teams to just sit comfortably," she said. "[We need a] wake up call that we still need to go out and compete."

More immediately, the majority of the team will look to carry the momentum from the Davis Invitational into Saturday's Sean Collier Invitational at MIT. Some members of the team will also see action during the week, as they travel to the Holy Cross Heptathlon today and the Larry Ellis Invitational at Princeton University on Friday.