The Hopkins Women’s track team competed in the Navy Multi-Madness Meet and the Bucknell Winter Classic this past weekend. After breaking several records at both meets, the Blue Jays have added greater prestige to their already remarkable season.
At the Navy Meet on Thursday, Hopkins placed second overall and third in the main event of the indoor pentathlon, which consists of 60 meter hurdles, high jump, shot put, long jump and 800 meters.
Senior Kristin Spera placed third in the pentathlon, setting a Hopkins record with 2,931 points. Spera’s high jump, long jump and 800 meter run were all personal records.
“With this being senior year for many of us, we have been training very hard to reach those goals we’ve set for ourselves,” Spera said shorty after the performance. “We don’t want to have any regrets when we walk off that track for the last time so I think with that mentality we are performing to our potential and hitting the marks we’ve been striving for. Breaking records is just icing on the cake.”
Freshman Paige Marsh set the record for freshman marks in the pentathlon with 2,594 points. She set personal records in all five events. Spera and Marsh ranked first and third in the conference for the pentathlon, respectively.
Junior Maggie Shelton won the 800 meter run in a come-from-behind victory, finishing in 2:19.74. She beat out three Navy runners to finish first in the race.
Freshman Megan McDonald re-broke the Hopkins freshman record in the 400 meter dash with a time of 59.40 seconds. This accomplishment moved her up to the third spot in all-time indoor times for Hopkins
Junior Paige Boehmcke finished the mile run in third place with a time of 5:16.40, closely followed by sophomore Frances Loeb in seventh and freshman Caroline Powers in eighth in big field.
Senior Josey Mintel ran a personal best of 10:41.21 in the 3,000 meter run, followed by her teammates Gabbi Drummond, Maggie Hashmall, Stephanie Cabral and Jena Daya, all of whom ran the race in under 10:53.
In the Bucknell Winter Classic on Saturday afternoon, Hopkins set records in both the 60 meter hurdles and the triple jump.
Senior Alexa Tzaferos beat the Hopkins record in the 60 meter hurdles. Finishing the race in 9.50 seconds, Tzaferos — who tied the record with 9.53 last weekend — finished eighth overall.
When asked about her season, Tzaferos said, “We’ve been working so hard and pushing each other all season, and it was exciting to see everything finally come together. A lot of records have been broken already, but I think there are still big things to come. With conference championships and nationals around the corner, I think we’re right where we need to be and I cannot be more proud of this team.”
Freshman Imoni McCorvey also had a record setting day in the triple jump. She jumped 37’6.5”, beating her own Hopkins record of 37’1.25” that she set on December 9. Her mark ranks 11th in the nation among Division III athletes, and first among freshman.
When asked about her jump, McCorvey said, “I’m really satisfied with my performance this week. It is great to have all the effort that I put in during practice pay off.”
Senior Annie Monagle also had a notable day in the mile run. She beat her personal record by seven seconds, finishing with a time of 4:54.10. Her time ranks third in the nation among DIII competitors.
Freshman Hannah Oneda was first in the 5,000 meter run, finishing with a time of 16:55.31. In the same race, junior Abby Flockfinished fifth and also set a personal record with a time of 18:12.17.
Freshman Courtney Kelly placed fifth in the 3,000 meter run and set a personal record time with 10:20.22.
When asked about how the team trains for these meets, Kelly told us, “Our team has been working really hard the past months, running long workouts with tough target times. As a team we have been able to push ourselves harder than we could have imagined, and it’s been paying off through all of the lifetime personal records we’ve been getting. I’m really excited for next week to hopefully drop even more time in the 3K and be able to help Hopkins win another conference title.”
The team has high hopes for this weekend’s upcoming Keogh Invitational.
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