Women's Track and Field Posts Solid Marks at Boston University Season Opener

RESULTS


BOSTON, MASS. —The Williams Women's Track and Field team traveled to Boston University today to compete in their first meet of the indoor season, the BU Sharon Colyear-Danville Season Opener. Opposing teams included those from schools of all three NCAA divisions, including Boston University, Boston College, Northeastern University, and Quinnipiac University. The Ephs came eager to post impressive marks for the first time after a hardworking training season. With multiple personal bests and top 10 finishes, the team had a very successful debut on the track. 

The opening of the meet was the 60m hurdles. Freshman Hayden Colfax clocked in at an impressive 9.41 seconds in the prelims. Her preliminary 8th place finish gave her a lane in the finals for the event. Later that day, she ran a blazing 9.46 seconds in the finals to get 7th place. In the 60m dash, school-record holder Kiara Tan '23 took 4th overall with an impressive time of 7.87 seconds. She later went on to compete in the finals for the 60m, shaving some time off of her first performance with a 6th place finish of 7.84 seconds. Freshman Rachel Arthur took 9th in the 60m, running it in 7.97 seconds for a personal best. In the 400m race, Camryn Taylor '24 had an extremely swift run of 58.64 seconds for a personal best, putting her in 4th overall for the event. In another heat of the same race, freshman Caroline Green took 10th, finishing in 62.37 seconds. The 200m saw success from the Ephs as well, with Rachel  Arthur '25 clocking in at a fast 25.83 seconds in 10th.

The Ephs saw equally as strong  performances in the field events. Senior captain Kelsie Hao had an amazing performance in the pole vault. Her incredible 3.60m clearance earned her 1st place overall in the event. Also in the pole vault were strong performances from Poppy Miller '25 and captain Cristina Young '22. Both women cleared 3.30m, with Miller taking 8th place and Young taking 9th place. In the long jump, Caroline Douglas '23 took 5th with an impressive 5.48m jump for a personal best. Close behind was captain Kelsie Hao '22 with a 7th place jump of 5.45m. Kiara Tan '23 also competed in the event, taking 9th with her 5.41m jump. Captain Cailin Stollar '21.5 led the team in the triple jump with her impressive 10.72m jump, making her the 8th place finisher in the event. 

The sprint events for the day concluded with the 4x400m relay. An exciting lineup performed outstandingly in the order of Camryn Taylor '24, Malia Klein '25, Caroline Douglas '23, and Caroline Green '25. The four women clocked in at 4:01.73, working hard to take 6th overall in the event. 

Distance runners recently transitioned from their cross country season showed off their abilities on the track, too. First on the track for distance was the mile race, with Lucy Gagnon '24 and Liza Jacoby '22 competing for the Ephs. With a 5:13.85  finish, Gagnon took an impressive 12th place. Jacoby came in 21st with a quick time of 5:23.32. Later on in the day, four women represented Williams in the 3000m race. Racing against numerous top runners from around the country, the Ephs performed very well amongst the group. Ella Ball '25 took 32nd overall, finishing in 10:07.66. With an impressive kick at the end of her race, freshman Grace Kaercher came in close behind at 10:08.69. Grace Dailey '22 and Molly Fitzgibbons '24 also competed for the Ephs, coming in at 10:14.21 and 10:24.52 respectively. Finally, the last distance event of the evening for the women was the 5000m race. Abby Scott '22.5 and Maddy Lawler '23 came in close together. Scott finished in 59th overall with a time of 17:50.45. In 60th came Lawler, finishing in 17:54.73. 

Despite this being such an early meet in the season, the Ephs came prepared and presented a challenge for their competitors in all events on the track. Many of the performances from the Ephs at this meet qualify for the DIII New England Championships. Head Coach Nate Hoey remarks, "It was great to be back competing again today!  It was a good rust buster to close out fall training and I'm excited about the next steps as we go back to work chasing our potential together."

The Ephs will not compete again until they return from winter break. Their next meet, Little Three's Championships, will be held on January 15th at Wesleyan University in Middletown, CT.