Six athletes qualify for NCAA Nationals

The Hopkins women’s track and field team had a very successful weekend at both the Tufts Last Chance Meet on Thursday and the ECAC Division III Indoor Track and Field Championships on Friday and Saturday. These are their last meets of the season before a select group heads out to Lincoln, Neb. for the NCAA Division III Championships on March 14 and 15.

On Thursday at the Tufts meet, senior team captain Emily Swenson broke her own school record with a throw of 44’8.75” (13.63 m) in the shot put event. Swenson tied for first in the event with Widener’s Erica Szpynda and is now ranked 12th nationally in the event, putting her into position to compete at nationals.

The distance medley relay with junior Ingrid Johnson, sophomore Megan McDonald, senior Maggie Shelton and freshman Tess Meehan placed first overall at the meet with a time of 11:56.47. Their time (converted for track size) of 11:48.88 ranks seventh nationally, which qualifies them to compete in Lincoln for the national meet.

Shelton, also a team captain, is ranked second nationally in the 800 meter and will be competing in the NCAA Championships, with hopes to add another title to her impressive resume which includes NCAA All-American honors in outdoor track. “I don’t want to jinx anything with the open 8, but if I can finish within a couple of spots where I’m seeded I’d be thrilled,” said Shelton. She will compete right after teammate Andrew Carey, who qualified for the same event on the men’s side.

Junior Ashley Murphy placed second in the 3000 meter run with a time of 10:06.31. Sophomore Hannah Oneda ran a 17:54.86 in the 5000 meter event, placing ninth.

At the ECAC Championships, Swenson had a career day in the pentathlon. Her approach this weekend was recovering after an intensive conference championship meet.

“I was focused on making sure I got a good mark for high jump this time around. That was the event I had the most trouble with at conferences,” said Swenson. Her approach paid off, scoring a personal best of 3324 points while placing second in the pentathlon at the meet. She won her strongest event, shot put, outright with a throw of 13.23 m, ran a 2:38.79 in the 800 meter run, finished second in the 60 meter hurdles, tied for fourth in the long jump, and tied for ninth in the high jump. Her scores put her in place to compete in the NCAA Division III Championships for the pentathlon, where she will look to receive honors on top of last year’s NCAA outdoor track All-American honor.

The Lady Jays were well represented in this event, as sophomore Nikki Kerns also competed. “This past week the whole team really tried to rest so we could be fresh for the events. We worked on some last minute technique and made sure everything was as perfect as it could be for the meet,” Kerns said. Her preparation worked, as she placed fourth in the pentathlon with a score of 3211 points. Kerns placed third in both the 60 meter hurdles and the long jump, fourth in the 800 meter run, fifth in the high jump, and seventh in the shot put.

While many of the girls have moved their focus to outdoor track, the qualifiers of the Hopkins track team are preparing to head out to Lincoln. The team is extremely excited as the preparation for their final meet kicks in.

“At this point, all the months and months of training are there for us, so all we can do to prepare now is just get excited, get a lot of sleep and be confident going in. We're tapering this week so our legs should be nice and fresh and ready to go,” said Loeb about this upcoming weekend.

The Jays will have a total of 11 individuals competing in nine different events between the men and women, which is a program record.

Loeb added, “We’re hoping to finish in the top ten teams in the nation on both the men's and women's side. I think we all have the right mindset going in. We're all excited for this opportunity to compete on the national level and we're doing our best to stay relaxed so we can all perform well.”