Story Links MEDFORD, MA (January 18, 2025) – The Tufts University women’s track and field team finished in first place at the Branwen Smith-King Invitational at the Gantcher Center on Saturday, claiming victory in nine events and setting 17 marks in the NCAA Division III Top 100. Seven Jumbos would score in the long jump, yielding […]
MEDFORD, MA (January 18, 2025) – The Tufts University women’s track and field team finished in first place at the Branwen Smith-King Invitational at the Gantcher Center on Saturday, claiming victory in nine events and setting 17 marks in the NCAA Division III Top 100. Seven Jumbos would score in the long jump, yielding the most points of any field event on the day. Freshman Ava DePrizio began her collegiate career with a mark of 4.68m, landing her in eighth place. Just ahead of her was junior Tamia Dubidad with a personal best of 4.79m for seventh. Sophomore Nora Jean-Jacques finished in sixth with a 4.89m, while senior Annika Kral set a new personal best as well with a 4.93m jump to earn fifth place. Freshman Cameron Stanton finished just a centimeter ahead of Kral, beginning her college career with a 4.94m long jump. Senior Jordan Andrew jumped for 5.22m, landing her in third place and setting the 61st best mark in the NCAA Division III. The winner of the event was freshman Elysse Cumberland, who started her collegiate career with the 40th best mark in the NCAA Division III, a massive leap of 5.31m.The final events of the day for Tufts were the relays, and the Jumbos performed as well as possible. The 4x400m ‘A’ squad of Chechile, Meek, Kral and Smith finished first by nearly 15 seconds, setting the NCAA Division III’s ninth best time in the event with a 4:01.33. The ‘B’ squad of Janssen, Elie, Dolce and Bryar finished second with a 4:16.04, six seconds ahead of third place Mount Holyoke. The Jumbos finished the day with a grand finale in the 4x800m relay. The ‘A’ squad of Dean, West, Olson and Rinko smashed the competition with an NCAA Division III best time of 10:02.64, claiming first place with ease and compounding the victory for the Jumbos.Kral placed third in the 200m race, finishing in 26.89 seconds. Just behind her was freshman Makayla Moriarty in fifth (27.28) and senior Harper Meek in sixth (27.28). The only Jumbo running in the 400m was the winner, freshman Logan Elie. She ran for a blistering 1:02.46, a full second ahead of second place. The 1000m race was the most successful event for the Jumbos on the track, with six Tufts athletes placing in the scoring positions. Lexi Dean was the winner, beginning her junior season with a 3:01.94. Just under three seconds behind the victor was sophomore Phoebe Bryar, who ran a 3:04.84 in her first indoor meet. Senior Carly Rinko trailed just behind in third and finished with a personal best 3:06.17 in her first indoor 1000m race since January 30, 2022. Senior Kaya West finished fifth with a 3:06.98 ahead of sophomore Samara McVey in sixth with a personal best 3:10.95. Sophomore Sonia Olson was just 20 milliseconds behind McVey, running a personal best 3:10.97 for seventh. On the track, Simisola Lawal began her sophomore campaign with a hot start. The sprinter ran for an NCAA Division III 66th best 7.96 in the preliminary round of the 60m dash, before improving in the final with a finish of 7.94 for the NCAA Division III’s 56th best time and third place in the event. Cumberland was just behind her, and mirrored the accolades by setting the 97th best time in the NCAA Division III with an 8.03 in the preliminary, before improving as well in the final with a 7.98 for the NCAA Division III’s 75th best time and fourth place in the event.
Tufts finished with 259 points for first place at the meet, well ahead of next-best Springfield College’s total of 140.5 points.Sophomore Eleanor Whitehouse was the sole Jumbo in the mile race, and won with a 5:15.38 in her first time participating in the event. Senior Geri Tabbachino was the lone Tufts runner in the 3000m run and finished seventh with a 12:11.79.The Jumbos will take the week to tune up before heading down to The TRACK at New Balance to compete in the Middlebury New England Small College Invitational on Sunday, January 26th with competition beginning at 10:00 AM.The triple jump saw all five Jumbos reach scoring position, with three of them earning marks in the NCAA Division III Top 100. DePrizio landed eighth with a 9.89m mark, while Stanton finished fifth with a mark of 10.30m. Jean-Jacques placed in fourth with a 10.48m jump for the 88th best score in the NCAA Division III this season and Dubidad finished just ahead in third with the NCAA Division III’s 58th best jump of 10.69m. Andrew had the highest finish for Tufts in the event, earning second place with an 11.29m score and achieving the 15th longest jump in the NCAA Division III.The high jump saw another pair of Jumbos earn spots on the NCAA Division III Top 100 list, as sophomore Lexi King leapt for a personal best 1.66m and the sixth best mark in the NCAA Division III en route to second place. Freshman Arielle Chechile began her indoor career with a bang, setting the 44th best mark in the NCAA Division III with a fourth place clinching jump of 1.44m. Next up was the pole vault, which saw another four Jumbos score; remarkably, all four would set marks in the NCAA Division III. Senior Sarah Firth leaped for 3.70m, putting her comfortably ahead of the field and setting the fifth best mark in the NCAA Division III. Emma Gall finished in second place with a jump of 3.40m, tying her second best career mark and setting the 24th best score in the NCAA Division III. Senior Nyla Thompson and freshman Natalie Germanov tied for fourth place, each jumping over 3.25m mark and setting the 49th best score in the NCAA Division III, and solidifying a dominant performance in the pole vault for Tufts.Another Jumbo won the 600m race, with senior Emma Smith finishing three seconds clear in first with a 1:40.21. Junior Eugenie Horisberger finished in third with a time of 1:44.71 ahead of fellow junior Paige Zhang in seventh with a personal best 1:50.86. The final throwing event for the Jumbos was the shot put, and two Jumbos earned scoring positions in the event. Freshman Mia Kurtz finished third with a 10.68m throw in her first collegiate competition, while senior Liz Graham finished just behind her in fourth with a 10.29m put.–JUMBOS–Starting with the weight throw, the Jumbos were off to a hot start. They had athletes in each of the odd-numbered scoring positions to occupy four of the top eight spots. Sophomore Ceci LaBarge was the top finisher in the event, setting the 49th best mark in the NCAA Division III and shattering her previous personal record of 13.58m with a throw reaching 14.93m. Liz Graham kicked off her senior season with a 13.34m throw for third place, while sophomore Jackie Wells was a few centimeters behind her with a 13.21m for fifth place in her debut in the event. Rounding out the Jumbos in scoring positions was sophomore Nicole Kuhl who placed seventh with a 12.10m throw.
