BOSTON, MA (March 1, 2026) – The Tufts University women's track & field team won five events, broke five school records and set two meet records today while winning the 2026 New England Division III Indoor Championship with an extraordinary performance at The TRACK at New Balance.
The Jumbos win their third New England DIII indoor title overall and first since 2013. Tufts battled in the team standings against NESCAC rival Williams College all day, with the Jumbos taking a final lead late and holding off the Ephs. Tufts finished with a 112 team score to 108 for Williams.
The Tufts team saw victories by senior
Liz Donahue in the 5000 meters, junior
Simisola Lawal in the 60-meter dash, sophomore
Arielle Chechile in the 400 meters and by sophomore
Elysse Cumberland in both the long and triple jumps.
Chechile and Cumberland both broke school and meet records today, while the Jumbos also set new Tufts standards in the 4x200-meter relay and the 4x400-meter relay.
Chechile's time of 55.10 seconds to win the 400 meters broke her own school record of 55.65 set earlier this season. It also replaced the former New England DIII indoor meet record of 55.38 set by Bella King-Harvey of Williams College last year. Chechile's 55.10 ranks fourth nationally as of Sunday afternoon. The win in the 400 at the New England Indoor Championships is the first by a Jumbo since 2003.
Cumberland went 5.96m (19'6 ¾") in the long jump for the victory, erasing her own school record of 5.92m set earlier this season. She also broke the meet record held by former Jumbo Lia Rotti of 5.90m (19'4 ¼") from 2023, which is the last time Tufts won the event at the New England DIII indoor meet. Cumberland's distance today ranks third nationally.
Lawal lowered her PR in the 60-meter dash twice today. After blazing to a time of 7.61 seconds in the preliminaries, she later won the final in 7.58 seconds. It places 10th nationally as of Sunday afternoon, and improves upon her #2 ranking at Tufts in the event. Lawal's win is Tufts' first in the 60 at this meet since school-record holder Alexis Harrison won in 2016.
Chechile and Lawal were then both under the 200 meters Tufts record while finishing second and third, respectively, to score 14 team points in the event. Chechile's time of 24.50 seconds stands as the new record, replacing Lawal's former mark of 24.70 set earlier this season. Lawal ran 24.53 today for the second-fastest time in school history. Both marks are top 10 nationally as of Sunday.
Cumberland later won the triple jump with a 12.10m (39'8 ½') mark that helped the Jumbos gain the lead back against Williams. Tufts has now won back-to-back triple jump titles at the meet, following
Jordan Andrew's victory last year.
Tufts then held off the Ephs with the two relay record performances leading the way. In its first 4x2 of the season, the Tufts foursome of sophomore
Makayla Moriarty, Lawal, senior
Anne-Sophie Janssen and Cumberland ran 1:41.13 to break the year-old school record and finish as the runner-up. Moriarty, first-year
Cori Stewart, Janssen and Chechile then combined on a 3:49.20 mark in the 4x4 that also broke a year-old Tufts record. The 4x4 was third overall.
The Jumbo 4x800 relay also held its ground with a 9:17.90 time that is the second-fastest in team history. First-year
Zui Chinchalkar, junior
Kaya West, senior
Lexi Dean and first-year
Kayleigh Forde scored fourth in the race.
Donohue got the Jumbos off to a great start in the first event of the day, crossing the finish line 15 seconds faster than anyone else in the 5000 field with her 17:16.35 winning time. It's Tufts' first New England DIII indoor title in the 5000 since 2020.
In addition to her major relay contributions, Moriarty's 400 meters time of 56.94 seconds was fifth in the race. It's her indoor PR, ranks her #5 at Tufts and is in the national top 40 as well. Junior
Kaya West also had a solid contribution with her fifth-place mark for the 1000 meters in a 2:58.71 time.
Also early in the meet, the distance medley relay of junior
Taylor Neldner, sophomore
Logan Elie, junior
Sonia Olson and sophomore
Eleanor Whitehouse contributed a sixth-place 12:34.21 mark. Junior
Emma Gall added sixth-place points for the pole vault, where she had 3.70m (12'1 ½") success. Forde ran the team's best 800 of the season with a 2:15.76 mark for sixth place. Junior
Nora Jean-Jacques supported Cumberland's win in the triple jump with an 11.12m (36'5 ¾") indoor PR that was sixth.
Junior
Ceci LaBarge had a 14.90m (48'10 ¾") in the weight throw to earn two team points with a seventh-place finish. First-year
Lily Simmonds led the Jumbos in the mile, finishing in a 5:00.14 time also for seventh place.
After scoring sixth in the pentathlon on Friday, sophomore
Lauren Zipoli qualified for the 60-meter hurdles final today with a 9.01 preliminary time that puts her fourth in Tufts history. She ran 9.16 in the final for eighth place.
Among non-scorers for the Jumbos, first-year
Lauren Downer led the team in the 600 meters with a 1:38.49 team-season-best that was 11th in the race. Junior
Lexi King and first-year
Camille Brand both tied for 12th in the high jump at 1.53m (5'0 ¼"). Junior
Jackie Wells threw 11.12m (36'5 ¾") in the shot put for 16th place.
The Jumbos will have one last chance to improve upon or establish NCAA qualifying ranks at the Tufts Final Qualifier next Friday and Saturday at the Gantcher Center.
--JUMBOS--
