Complete Results
In less-than-ideal weather conditions the Eph women still managed
a strong showing against Division I and III competition this past
Saturday at the UMass-Amherst Invite. Several top eight finishes
enabled Williams to accumulate enough points to claim fourth
place.
On the track, junior Elise Johnson placed second in both the 100m
dash and 100m hurdles, running 13.02 and 15.43 respectively.
Johnson also managed to race to a 5th place finish in the 200m.
First year sprinters Kelsey Ham and Hillary Higgs placed 8th and
4th in the 100m. Higgs went on to finish in 7th place right behind
teammate Elise Johnson in the 200m, running 26.77. The times
themselves might not reflect the true performance level that the
Ephs are capable of or the strong effort they put in at the meet
because the poor weather was such a factor.
Overall the times were decent considering the conditions. Sprint
coach Joel Williams told the women "you have to take into account
the temperature and the head wind."
Junior Nora Mitchell took 4th in the 400m hurdles, running 1:06.93.
She was followed by freshman Maya Harakawa, who placed 5th.
The performances of the day came in the 800m and 5k races. Going
3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th in a highly competitive 800, sophomores Sara
Wild, Lizzy Danhakl, and juniors Ariel Williams and Olga
Kondratjeva ran amazing races. This group stayed in a pack and came
in one after another, showing the strength and depth of the Ephs
mid-distance squad.
Senior captain Lauren Philbrook captured the 5k in a performance
that was nothing short of a perfect race. Leading the field from
the start, Philbrook posted a national provisional qualifying time
of 17:07.54.
At the end of the day it was the words of head coach Fletcher
Brooks that brought everything together. "Particularly on a day not
conducive to special performances, our distance runners dominated,
the sprinters came through in solid fashion, and the throwers and
jumpers are getting ready!"
