MEDFORD, MA (January 17, 2026) – In its first full-team meet of the season, the Tufts University women's indoor track & field team won eight events in a strong performance today at the Branwen Smith-King Invitational.
Junior
Emma Gall had an excellent season debut in the pole vault. She won with a 3.70m (12'1 1'2") mark that placed her #3 all-time at Tufts, was a personal-best and ranks in the top 10 nationally. Junior
Lena Tang was right behind her in second place with a 3.45m (11'3 ¾") for a top 35 DIII mark.
Tufts also won both throwing events. In the weight trow, sophomore
Mia Kurtz's best distance of 15.99m (52'5 ½") won the event, was a huge PR, ranks fourth at Tufts and is a top 20 national mark. Junior
Ceci LaBarge was second in the event at 15.78m (51'9 ¼"), her PR and a top 30 DIII distance. Junior
Jackie Wells later won the shot put, launching the ball 12.27m (40'3 ¼") for a big PR.
A pair of relay top times were added late in the meet. The 4x400-meter relay made its season debut with senior
Anne-Sophie Janssen, sophomore
Logan Elie, junior
Tessa Player and first-year
Cori Stewart combining on a 4:09.70 time to win the event. For the 4x800-meter relay, sophomore
Phoebe Bryar, first-year
Kayleigh Forde, first-year
Lauren Downer and senior
Julia Dolce posted a winning mark of 9:45.93.
In the mile run, Tufts sophomore
Samara McVey (5:15.81 PR), junior
Deirdre Flanagan (5:16.43) and sophomore
Zoe Margolies (5:19.60) went 1-2-3. More Tufts victories came from Downer in the 600 meters and Dolce in the 1,000. Downer won with a 1:39.49 time, and was followed in second place by Stewart (1:40.32). Dolce's 3:02.95 to win the 1,000 was a PR, while Forde was second (3;04.03).
Sophomore
Arielle Chechile earned the #2 ranking all-time at Tufts with her 25.49 time for second place in the 200 meters today. It's a PR, and the 25.10 adjusted time is just outside the top 10 nationally. Junior
Simisola Lawal ran her PR in the 60-meter dash (7.76) to finish second in the event and place among the top 25 nationally. Lawal also ran 25.89 in the 200, converted to a 25.50 that is top 25 in DIII. Chechile also finished fourth in the 60-meter hurdles at 9.44 seconds.
In her first collegiate meet,
Alanna Jacobs debuted with a second-place time of 10:57.01 in the 3,000 meters. Sophomore
Cameron Stanton was the runner-up in the long jump with her 5.02m (16'6") distance. The top triple jump performer for Tufts was junior
Nora Jean-Jacques, who was third at 10.29m (33'9 ¼"). First-year
Camille Brand cleared 1.58m (5'2 ¼") in the high jump, which was fourth at the meet.
--JUMBOS--
