The Hopkins women’s track team followed up an impressive performance a week ago with another strong outing in the McElligot Invitational. The team traveled to Haverford, Pa. to take on a field of very competitive D-I and D-III programs. The two-day event began on Friday, Feb. 6, and continued through the day on Saturday, Feb. 7.
The event began with a strong performance by the women’s 4000m distance medley relay team (DMR). The team, comprised of senior Ingrid Johnson, junior Megan McDonald, freshman Caroline Smith and sophomore Tess Meehan, set the fastest time of the year for all of D-III. The DMR team dominated the event with a time of 12:05.25, more than 23 seconds faster than the second-place team. The DMR team hopes to improve upon its fourth place finish at the NCAA championships in 2014, a feat that may be entirely possible with the recent success of the relay team.
Junior Elisa Heacock and freshmen Ellie Burton and Kelsey Harper all secured top-15 finishes in the 800m run, with three others finishing in the top 22. Hopkins placed three in the top 8 of the mile run, led by junior Caroline Powers in fourth (5:17.17).
In the 60m hurdles, freshmen Jenn Su, Lauren Roberts, and Harper all impressed, coming in third, sixth and ninth, respectively.
Hopkins dominated the field in the high jump, with a clean sweep of the podium. Junior Paige Marsh cleared 1.55m (5’1”) to win the event, while junior Nikki Kerns and freshman Jenn Su tied for second with 1.47m (4’7.75”). Harper finished in fifth to give Hopkins four of the top-five finishers.
Freshman Joyce Lin finished third in her first collegiate performance in the event.
Hopkins, coming in at ninth in the most recent U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association poll, takes a short trip down I-97 to compete in Navy Multi-Madness on Feb. 12 and then returns to action in the two-day Boston University Valetine Invitational on Feb. 13 and 14.
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