Women's Track and Field | Hieber runs into record books

On May 10 at the New England Intercollegiate Amateur Athletic Association Championships (NEICAA), graduating senior Jana Hieber ran one of the most jaw-dropping races in Div. III history.

Hieber, who had never broken the 60-second barrier in the 400-meter hurdles, smashed that mark by running a time of 58.58 seconds to outpace the field by almost three seconds. She first broke the 60-second barrier in the preliminaries, running 59.86 to advance to the final.

Hieber's mark is now the second fastest time in NCAA Div. III history for the event. The all-time mark was set this season by Wheaton College graduating senior Ashante Little, who ran just 0.02 seconds faster than Hieber at the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference Championships on April 26. Both marks are significantly faster than the previous Div. III record in the 400-meter hurdles, held by Augsburg's Carolyn Ross, who set the standard at 58.99 seconds at the 1989 NCAA National Championships.

"I really just went after it this weekend," Hieber said. "I have been working on the first half of my race lately so getting out faster in the first half was really key this weekend. It seemed to work."

Rising junior Audrey Gould also had an impressive day on the track in the 5,000-meter. Gould was the runner-up in a very fast race, which brought her a personal record and a 17:09.07 finish. Gould's time currently ranks 23rd in the nation, making her dreams of competing at the national championships a strong possibility. Gould was second only to Williams graduating senior Kaleigh Kenny, who won in 16:55.19. Graduating senior Abby Barker placed 13th overall in a time of 17:44.82, while graduating senior Lauren Creath placed 24th, running a time of 18:26.08. Both times were season bests.

"I think being in a faster field really helped." Gould said. "I had girls that went out at exactly the pace I wanted to run and was able to hang on them and pick them off towards the end."

In the 100-meter hurdles, rising junior Alexis Harrison took 13th overall, running a time of 12.45, while graduating senior tri-captain Anya Kaufmann finished in 12.52, which was good enough for 17th overall. Rising junior Marilyn Allen ran a strong 100-meter hurdles race with a time of 14.88, but that only earned her ninth place out of the preliminaries meaning she was unable to advance to the final. The 4x400-meter relay team of rising senior Lauren Gormer, Allen, rising sophomore Hannah Loss and Hieber ran a time of 3:55.25 for 11th overall - another season best for Tufts.

The Jumbos still have two meets left on the season. A few Jumbos may run in the Eastern College Athletic Championships , held May 15-16 at Rennselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y. However, in past years, most Tufts runners have skipped this meet to prepare for the Div. III National Championships, which will be held this year at Ohio Wesleyan University.

Currently, only a few Jumbos rank in the top 25 in their events. The top 17 in each event qualify for the championships, but with scratches, it's possible that those athletes just outside of the top 17 could also compete.

Hieber has the best shot out of any Tufts athlete to win a national title. She and Little currently outpace the field by almost two seconds, so the battle for the 400-meter hurdles crown will likely be between them, with the winner likely being decided by fractions of a second.

"I have run fast times without close competition," Hieber said. "I definitely think that running with competition will motivate me and hopefully propel me to an even faster time."

Hieber also ranks 21st overall in the 400-meter as of May 12, though even if she does make the event after scratches, she may choose to focus solely on the 400-meter hurdles.

"I'll be running the 400 at ECACs, so we'll make a decision what to run at nationals afterward," Hieber said. "Obviously I'd love to compete in multiple events in Ohio, but we'll see how things shake out after this weekend."

Gould is perhaps the next most likely candidate to run at Nationals. She is currently ranked 23rd in the nation in the 5,000-meter. Most of the women in the field have broken 17 minutes, which Gould has never done. If she makes the national championships, Gould will be able to take advantage of the momentum she has built coming into nationals, and can count on running a fast race against women of her caliber. In addition to placing second at NEICAAs, she won at NESCACs on April 26 by running a time of 17:30.26.

The 4x100-meter relay team of rising senior Christina Harvey, Kaufmann, Allen and Harrison also have an outside shot of making Nationals with their race in Div. III New Englands a few weeks back.

After Nationals, the team will lose stars such as Hieber, Kaufmann, Barker and Creath to graduation, but as the past few years have shown, the Jumbos have done a remarkable job filling such voids. With a tradition of strong leadership and excellence, the Jumbos look to step up next year and stay at the top of the NESCAC.

"Summer training is going to be crucial for our team this year," Gould said. "Obviously we have a ton of talent in the freshman class that just needs some fine tuning. I think we can surprise people next year if people do things right over the summer."