BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - A stellar team performance gave the Williams College women's track and field team second place at the NCAA Championship in Birmingham this weekend, capping a phenomenal season. The Ephs finished with 44 points, 10 behind the champion Washington University in St. Louis, and one point ahead of third-placed Centre College.
The first Williams competitor to earn team points was Ellie Fitzgerald in the pole vault on Friday. The senior cleared a personal best of 4.05 meters to capture National Runner-Up and All-American status, winning eight points toward the team's score.
Next up was the 5000 meters, where Kate Swann and Tamar Byl each scored for the team, with Swann capturing second place with a time of 16:50.37, and Byl finishing 7th in 16:52.39. The duo combined to give the Ephs 10 points from the event, with senior Charlene Peng finishing 17th in the same event. Swann, in the final meet of her indoor career, posted the fastest final lap in the field.
"Nationals has been incredible because we have so many people here, which really helps us broaden our perspective and go out there and compete for the team," said Swann. "We are focusing on competing with joy, soaking up this experience, and being brave and taking risks, which I think has worked very well for us and lended itself to some amazing performances across the board."
The final Friday event where the Ephs scored was the distance medley relay, where the team showed impressive depth, capturing 8th place with Ginger Long, Claire Jensen, Lily Yampolsky and Jordan Liss-Riordan featuring for Williams.
Saturday's first scoring event for Williams was the mile, where Kate Tuttle ran a personal best - and a sixth best all-time mark in Division III - with a 4:43.81. The mark was almost seven seconds better than her 4:50.10 the day before, which easily moved her into the final, and gave her a new school record and third place in the event.
After a relatively short turnaround, Tuttle then doubled back to finish second in the 3000 meters, just 0.05 behind the race winner. Morgan Eigel was 0.54 behind Tuttle in third place, with the two combining for 14 points for the team. Byl was narrowly outside the points in 11th place as well.
Nationals finished with the 4x400, where Cate Donaldson, Ella Sukup, Annika Paluska and Bella King-Harvey ran 3:45.88, good for fourth place, finishing the competition on a high note. Paluska also ran well in the 800m prelims, barely missing out on the final in 9th place, and King-Harvey also finished 9th in the 400m prelims.
The team will enjoy the stellar finish at indoor nationals and take a short break before starting the outdoor season in early April.
