W.Track and Field readies for conferences

The women’s track team had an action-packed weekend, participating in three separate meets around the Northeast. These events included the Widener Invitational, the Mount Multis Meet and the Larry Ellis Invitational.

Hopkins excelled in the field events at the Widener Invitational, which took place in Chester, Pennsylvania.

Freshman Imoni McCorvey re-broke the Hopkins program outdoor record in the triple jump. She claimed first place overall by leaping 11.40 meters. Her exceptional bound ranks 18th nationally for Division III athletes this season.

"For this past meet, working on the technique was the most challenging," said McCorvey. "I have been working on my landings for a long time. I was lucky because I had my teammates and people from other schools to push me. This motivated me to jump my farthest this outdoor season."

Freshman Katherine Hamlet also performed well in the field. She participated in the high jump, tying her own program record for the second week in a row. She finished second overall in the competition, jumping a height of 1.60 meters (5 feet, 3 inches).

"At the Widener Invitational, there were some talented teams who brought good competition," said Hamlet. "Specifically, there were about two other girls in high jump who jumped around the same height as me. This provides good motivation to jump high. My event is very mental, so I work on staying calm and always focusing on my jump and seeing myself clearing the bar. The best part for me is having my family and my boyfriend there to watch and support me. Also, resting the day before the meet keeps my muscles fresh so they can perform at maximum potential on meet day. I look forward to jumping 5’5” within the next two weeks, and breaking my own personal record, as well as the school record again!"

In the throwing events, senior Alana Merkow and freshman Rae Conklin both finished strong. They were able to claim third place and fourth place in the shot put and discus, respectively. Both women broke their personal records in each category.

Hopkins also performed well on the track in the competition as the women set many personal records.

Sophomore Ingrid Johnson placed sixth in the 800 meter, setting a personal record time of 2:18.03. Junior Chloe Ryan also set a personal record, finishing 10th with a 26.55 in the 200 meter dash.

In the 1500 meter run, Hopkins had two runners finish in the top ten. Freshman Caroline Powers and sophomore Ashley Murphy both finished with times under 4:58.00 to help the team finish strong in the meet overall.

In the 100-meter dash, junior Chloe Ryan and sophomore Kelly Hussey finished 7th and 8th respectively. The Blue Jays also performed well in the relays, with both the A and B teams finishing second in both the 4x400 meter relay and the 4x100 relay, respectively.

When asked how to prepare for a meet with such strong competition, freshman runner Brynn Parsons said, “We had to train a lot and strengthen ourselves so we wouldn’t get hurt. I hurt my hamstring a couple weeks ago, so I was trying to heal and make sure I could run a strong race without re-injuring it, and that’s what I did on Saturday! We’re looking forward to both men and women doing well at conferences in two weeks!”

At the Mount Multis Meet, senior Kristin Spera led Hopkins to the win in the Heptathlon. The event combines seven different events, including 100 meter hurdles, high jump, shot put, 200 meter dash, long jump, javelin and the 800 meter race.

Spera finished first overall in the meet, winning by more than 400 points. She also set a school record with a cumulative score of 3838 points. Spera threw a personal record in the shot put with a distance of 10.29 meters. She also did well in the long jump and in the javelin, marking 5.14 meters and 24.40 meters, respectively.

"It was great competing with Paige and Kristin," said Spera. "We all made an effort to finish the series of events and do our best in every single one of them. Most importantly, we had a lot of fun doing it, that's what counts the most in the end. The guy's team did great as well, and it was definitely a fun experience with all of us together."

Freshman Paige Marsh also fought valiantly in the Heptathlon, coming in third with a total of 3314 points. Senior Tracey Vill came in fifth with a personal best of 2982 points.

At the Larry Ellis Invitational, freshman Courtney Kelly and junior Abby Flock were the focus of the meet. They each ran in the 5000 meter race and took 40 seconds off their personal best times. Going up against numerous Division I athletes, the women stood up well. Flock finished in 33rd place with a time of 17:31.90, and Kelly finished in 45th place with a time of 17:47.23.

When asked where the team is headed Kelly said, “We’re really looking forward to claiming another conference title next week. We’ve all been training really hard since December and it all comes down to next weekend. We’re definitely prepared to reclaim the conference title.”

The women have a busy schedule ahead of them when they will travel to The Penn Relays this upcoming weekend, trailed by the Centennial Conference Championships the following weekend.