Women's Track & Field To Compete for New England DIII Indoor Title This Weekend

MEDFORD, MA (February 26, 2026) - The Tufts University women's track & field team hits the championship season this weekend as the Jumbos will compete at the 2026 New England Division III Indoor Championships starting on Friday.

Tufts will host the pentathlon portion of the Championships on Friday at the Gantcher Center. The meet will resume on Sunday with the rest of the events being held at The TRACK at New Balance in Boston.

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2026 New England Division III Indoor Track & Field Championships
Dates: Friday, February 27 through Sunday, March 1
Location: Medford, MA (Gantcher Center) on Feb. 27-28; Boston, MA (The TRACK at New Balance) on Mar. 1
Coverage: LIVE RESULTS – LIVE VIDEO (Tufts) – LIVE VIDEO (Boston)

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The competition should be fierce. Three of the top 10 teams in the NCAA DIII Women's Indoor Track & Field National TFRI rankings will be at the meet, with #4 MIT, #5 Williams College and #9 Tufts. The Connecticut College team is 20th. These rankings represent overall team strength based on top performances nationally. 

Against this tough competition, the Jumbos will be vying for their third New England title to add to those won in 2008 and 2013.

Here's a closer look at the Tufts team heading into the meet:

PENTATHLON: Tufts will have four of the 15 total entries in the multi-event which starts the meet on Friday. Junior Lauren Zipoli is the top-ranked Jumbo with her score of 3006 from the Cupid Challenge at Tufts on February 13. First-year Eleanor Lewis, sophomore Cameron Stanton and first-year Camilla Brewer are also part of Tufts' deep multi group this year.

SPRINTS: Junior Simisola Lawal and sophomore Arielle Chechile have both broken school records this season, and sophomore Makayla Moriarty adds to a strong event group. Lawal's 24.70 school record in the 200 meters ranks third in the meet, and she's also third in the 60-meter dash with her 7.69 time. Chechile has the school record in the 400 at 55.65 seconds (54.92 converted), which is the top time in New England. She also has a 24.83 qualifying time in the 200 which is fifth in the meet. Moriarty's 57.01 ranks sixth for the 400 race.

MID-DISTANCE: The Jumbos will look to add points with strong depth through the four middle-distance events. In the mile they will have four entries, along with three in the both 600 and 1000 meters and one in the 800. Senior Julia Dolce, junior Kaya West and first-years Lily Simmonds and Zui Chinchalkar all have top-eight times in New England for middle-distance events this season.
Along with that quartet, junior Logan Elie and first-years Lauren Downer and Cori Stewart are running the 600 meters and senior Lexi Dean and junior Sonia Olson are in the mile. That gives the Jumbos 11 qualifiers across the mid-distance events.

DISTANCE: With no entries in the 3000 meters, the Jumbos will look to make a splash with their four runners in the 5000 race. Senior Liz Donahue's 16:54.83 time from the first meet of the indoor season is the top mark out of 24 entries in the race. She will be joined by three teammates, sophomore Samara McVey, junior Deirdre Flanagan and sophomore Zoe Margolies.

HURDLES: After competing in the pentathlon on Friday, Zipoli will run in the 60-meter hurdles on Sunday. With a season-best time of 9.25 seconds, she'll look to qualify for the final and score.

RELAYS: Lineups are not confirmed, but the Jumbos are entered in all four relays. Their 4x400-meter mark of 3:49.11 is second-best to Colby College in New England this winter. Moriarty, Stewart, Downer and Chechile made up that foursome. The distance medley relay has an 11:51.67 seed time that is fifth (Simmonds, senior Anne-Sophie Janssen, first-year Kayleigh Forde and Donahue). The Jumbos are the fourth seed in the 4x800 (9:39.25). Tufts will run a 4x200 for the first time this season at the meet.

JUMPS / VAULT: Defending indoor triple jump NCAA champion Elysse Cumberland enters the championship season of her sophomore year as the top seed in New England for both the triple (11.97m - 39'3 ¼") and the long jump (5.92m - 19'5 ¼"). She'll look to defend the lone Tufts individual victory from last year's meet by Jordan Andrew in the triple jump. A group of five Tufts competitors hope to give the Jumbos multiple scoring spots in the pole vault, led by junior fourth-seed Emma Gall (3.80m - 12'5 ½"). First-year Elena Clark had a season-best vault of 3.50m (11'5 ¾") at the Wheaton Post-Season Qualifier last Saturday and will look to continue her momentum this week. Junior Lexi King was fourth in the high jump last season and will look to contribute similarly.

This event group also features first-year Camille Brand (high jump), sophomore Natalie Germanov (pole vault), senior Amelie Wickham (pole vault), junior Lena Tang (pole vault) and junior Nora Jean-Jacques (triple jump). 

THROWS: After not scoring at last year's meet, the throwers have made strides this season and have strong potential. Junior Jackie Wells is the #4 seed in the shot put with her career-best mark of 12.71m (41'8 ½") from last weekend's Wheaton meet. In the weight throw, junior Ceci LaBarge (16.00m - 62'6") and sophomore Mia Kurtz (15.99m - 52'5 ½") are both in position to score as well. Sophomore Julia Saporito (shot put) and junior Nicole Kuhl (weight throw) give Tufts five throwers in the meet overall.