BOSTON, MA (January 26, 2025) - The Tufts University women's indoor track and field team competed well around the TRACK at New Balance at Middlebury's New England Small College Invitational on Sunday, placing _ of _ teams in their first test against conference competition.
The Jumbos saw strong performances in the jumps, with sophomore
Lexi King winning the high jump outright with a leap of 1.61m for her second highest career mark and the 26th highest mark in the NCAA Division III. Graduate student
Harper Meek had a strong jump as well, with her 1.56m mark earning fourth place and being the second best score overall. Meek's jump was the 79th best in the NCAA Division III.
Senior
Jordan Andrew finished third in the triple jump with an 11.17m jump earning third place overall. Freshman
Elysse Cumberland placed in fifth with a mark of 11.02m in her triple jump debut, immediately setting the 40th best time in the NCAA Division III. Andrew finished in fifth in the long jump with a 5.28m.
Senior
Sarah Firth won the pole vault competition once again, finishing just four centimeters off her personal best with a 3.86m and the fourth best mark in the NCAA Division III.
Sophomore
Jackie Wells set a personal best with a toss of 10.75m in the shot put to take ninth. The only other throwing event of the day saw senior
Liz Graham finish fourth with her second best career weight throw of 14.50m, while sophomore
Ceci LaBarge placed in sixth with her second best career throw of 14.09m.
On the track, the Jumbos began their day well with a fifth place finish in the 5000m run thanks to sophomore
Sophie Carpenter's mark of 18:28.91. Her first attempt at the event indoors was a good one, as she was just about two seconds off of her career best outdoor time of 18:26.38. Junior
Vivian Lau smashed her previous personal best time in the 5000m (19:39.93) with a finish in 18:59.89 for seventh place.
Junior
Lexi Dean ran for a personal best in the mile run, finishing in fourth place with a 5:07.56; the 47th best time in the NCAA Division III. Fellow junior
Liz Donahue finished sixth in the 3000m run with a 10:25.06.
Freshman
Makayla Moriarty's first run in the 400m was excellent as she placed fifth with a 59.79 joining four other athletes as the only runners to finish in less than a minute. It was the 81st best finish in the NCAA Division III.
Rounding out the day were the relays, which saw a pair of squads compete in the distance medley. Juniors
Carly Rinko and
Lexi Dean, sophomore
Taylor Neldner and freshman
Samara McVey finished in fourth place with a time of 12:52.07. The 4x400m relay was a great way to finish the day for Tufts, as the squad of seniors
Emma Smith &
Annika Kral and freshmen
Arielle Chechile &
Logan Elie took second place with an impressive 3:59.69. The Jumbos closed out the competition with the 14th best time in the NCAA DIvision III.
Overall it was a strong showing for Tufts, with several podium finishes and a pair of wins in their first competition against fellow New England Small College Athletic Conference schools.
Tufts has a short week as they get ready to return to Boston for the John Thomas Terrier Classic at Boston University on Friday at 3:00 pm. They continue competition the next day at 10:00 am, also at Boston University.
--JUMBOS--
