SAN DIEGO, Calif.-- This weekend, the Williams College women's track and field team traveled to Point Loma Nazarene University to compete against a strong cohort of schools at the Point Loma Invitational.

 

The field was a mixture of competitive Division I, II, and III schools, including California State Polytechnic Institution, Middlebury, Tufts, and University of La Verne. By the end of the meet, Williams finished with the most team points at 246, with Cal Poly Pomona in second with 243 points, and Point Loma University in third with 231 points. In a strong season opener, the Ephs came away with numerous NESCAC qualifiers.

 

The meet began with the field events. Representing the Ephs in women’s high jump was Emma Egan and Kene Odenigbo. They came in first and second, respectively, jumping a height of 1.75 meters and 1.62 meters. With that height, Egan broke the previous meet record by a whopping 5 centimeters. Continuing with the vertical jumps, the women of pole vault also performed well. Winning the overall meet, Kelsie Hao ‘21 had a great season opening jump of 3.69 meters. Maggie Murphy also had a solid start to the season, clearing the bar of 3.49 meters and coming in fourth place. 

 

The horizontal jumps followed the vertical jumps, and all the women competing had great starts. On her third jump of the day, Egan leaped to an incredible distance of 5.39 meters, enough to put her in fifth place. Summer-Solstice Thomas ‘20 followed closely behind her teammate, jumping 5.26 meters on her final attempt. This jump was enough to secure seventh place. Following long jump was the triple jump. Cailin Stollar had a solid season. On her final attempt, she jumped 11.06 meters. This jump was enough to secure her fourth place. Odenigbo also performed well, springing to 11.02 meters, winning fifth place overall. 

 

In women’s throwing, Morgan Dauk had great marks. Coming off of a season with the Women’s basketball team, Dauk came in tenth place in the javelin throw, hurling the javelin 31.29 meters. In the shot put, Mazie Alexander hit a lifetime best. Hurling the implement 10.13 meters, she won eleventh place for the Ephs. 

 

On the track, the Ephs continued the success of the women on the field. Beginning with the 4x100 meter relay, a team of Kennedy Green, Kiara Tan, Davis Collison, and Megan Powell sprinted to the finish. They crossed the line in 47.84 seconds, enough to win the meet and get a solid time at the start of the season. Following the relay on the sprint side was Thomas in the 100 meter hurdles. She finished the race in a fast 15.75 seconds, which put her in 8th place. 

 

Next, the women took to the track in the 100 meter dash. Green crossed the line first for the Ephs, finishing with a time of 12.37 seconds and in overall third place. Close behind her was teammate Tan, finishing in 12.48 seconds and fifth place. In the 200 meter dash, Powell represented the women well. Finishing in 26.17 seconds, the junior took eleventh overall. Powell then joined teammate Ella Dunn ‘21 in the 400 meter dash. Dunn finished with a personal best of 58.08 seconds and in third place. Powell followed closely, finishing with a time of 58.70 seconds. 

 

In her first meet back since nationals, Anna Passannante opened with the 1500 meter race. She produced a new lifetime best in the event with a time of 4:33 and second place. Audrey Rustad also had a great race, finishing in 4:45 and in 9th place. In the 5000 meter race, Jaylan Fraser-Mines was the only Eph to compete. She finished in a time of 19:28 which put her in 4th place. 

 

The meet finished off with the 4x400 meter relay, made up of Nicole Wilkinson, Dunn, Passannante, and Powell, crossing the finish line in 3:58. The team came in 3rd in the event. 

 

After a very successful first meet, the Ephs look forward to training for another week at the Point Loma track. This coming Saturday, the Ephs will then travel to University of California San Diego to compete in their final meet of spring break before returning to Williamstown.