Northampton MA -- The division III championship is easily one of the most important meets for the women of Williams College and all athletes were ready for fierce competition when they arrived at the track this afternoon. However, both coaches and athletes were aware of the fierce determination of rival Tufts to triumph over the women’s team which has won 10 of the past 16 indoor titles, including the last five consecutive titles.
The field events yielded points from pole vaulter Rachel Teitelbaum who contributed 3.5 points to the team's score. However, Tufts incredibly strong field events gave them a significant lead early on. Yet the Williams women were ready to close the gap led by captain Carrie Plitt. Plitt who competed in the 55, 200 and 400 contributed twenty-eight points to the team total with two 1st place and a 2nd place finish. Plitt edged out Tufts speedsters Logan Crane and Kaleigh Fitzpatrick in the 200 and 400 respectively in two of the most exciting finishes of the day. Also contributing points in the sprinting events was sophomore Elise Johnson who finished eighth in the 200 as well as fourth in the 55m hurdles and sophomore Emily Heaslip capturing 6th place in the 400 meters. A surprise contribution to the team total was Shawna Mcardle who placed 5thin the 200 meters although entering the race seeded below eighth place.
The contributions of the Williams mid distance and distance crews however cannot be forgotten with stunning performances from the 600 all the way up to the 5k. Freshmen Sara Wild destroyed the competition in the 600 capturing first place with a time of 1:37.10. Also scoring for the Ephs in the 600 was freshmen Kathie Nyholm who captured 8th place although not racing in the final seeded heat. In the 800m sophomore Ariel Williams won the seeded heat followed closely by senior captain Lissy Robie. However, two runners from the slower seeded heat had run faster times pushing Williams and Robie to a third and fourth place finish. In the 1000 meter run sophomore Olga Kondratjeva powered her way to a third finish followed by junior Heather Bemis taking seventh.
The 1000 yielded one of the most inspiring performances of the day by sophomore Nora Mitchell who snatched 6th place from the unseeded heat, running far ahead of the pack for the majority of the race. In the mile race junior Laura Walls and a return performance by Kondratjeva scored a combined seven points for the team. In the 3K, sophomore Bret Scofield dug out a fifth place finish with was complimented by freshmen Tina Meade’s admirable capture of seventh place. In the 5k Williams women Natalia Rey de Castro and Lauren Philbrook placed 7th and 5th giving Williams a combined total of 108 points prior to the relays.
Relays came up big for Williams with the 4X200 scoring second after being edged out by .02 seconds at the finish line early on in the meet. Down by nine points to Tuft with the 4X400 and 4X800 to go, the Williams women stepped up to the challenge. The 4 X400 run By Shawna Mcardle, Emily Heaslip, Veronica Ivey and Sara Wild won a nail biter over Tufts with stellar performances by Heaslip and Wild which propelled the team to victory. The 4X800 team of Jessica Clark, Lissy Robie, Laura Walls and Ariel Williams dominated the field to win the relay. However, the late meet rally was not enough to surpass the Jumbos with the final scores of Tufts 136 to Williams 128.5. Despite the difference in scores the Ephs showed heart and determination against fierce competition today. The next challenge for the women is ECACs next Saturday.
