SOUTH HADLEY, MA (May 3, 2024) -- The Tufts University women's track and field team finished the opening day of competition at the 2024 New England Division III Championships in fifth place after action at Mount Holyoke College Friday afternoon.
The Jumbos posted 16 points over the first six scored events, tied with host Mount Holyoke for fifth place. Tufts performed very well all through the lineup on Friday, as first-year
Simisola Lawal earned a spot in Saturday's 100m dash final after posting a personal-best time of 12.51 seconds for seventh in qualifying.
In the 100m hurdles, senior
Sarah Pillone also found a spot into the finals after preliminaries, as she was sixth overall in the field with a time of 15.01 seconds. In the women's 5000 meters, first-year
Katya Henisz picked up five points with a fantastic run for fourth place, running a new personal-best time of 17:50.58. Her previous personal-best time in the event was 17:55.58.
Sophomore
Elizabeth Donahue was also eighth in the 5000 meters, earning one point for the team total with an 18:05.07. Junior
Liz Graham led the Tufts' group in the hammer throw with a distance of 40.93 meters, taking 16th place, and senior
Maja Nielsen took 20th place with a mark of 36.67 meters.
In the javelin, first-year
Jackie Wells continued her ascent in the event with another personal-best toss of 36.47 meters on her final attempt. Junior
Jordan Andrew was sixth in the long jump to chalk up three points, as she tallied a mark of 5.34 meters on her second of six tries on the day. Pillone took 15th place after a 5.10 meter jump.
The pole vault saw a pair of Jumbos take fifth place, as
Sarah Firth and
Emma Gall tied with a final height of 3.53 meters. Junior
Nyla Thompson took ninth after getting over the bar at 3.38 meters, and first-year
Lena Tang was 15th with a height of 3.23 meters.
In the 100m hurdles,
Antonia Knoth was 14th overall after racing to a time of 16.09 seconds.
In the heptathlon,
Sydney Spivy finished the opening day in eighth place after chalking up 2061 points. Spivy was fourth in the shot put with a distance of 9.63 meters. First-year
Tessa Player was 10th with an even 2000 points, taking ninth in the 100m hurdles with a time of 17.42 while also earning ninth in the shot put with a mark of 8.83 meters.
Action resumes at Mount Holyoke Saturday at 10 a.m. in South Hadley.
--JUMBOS--
