The women's track team took first place out of nine teams in the Brown Invitational this past Saturday. The Bears won the meet by 41 points and defeated Ivy League rival Harvard by 124 points. The weather allowed for fast times on the track and a number of personal bests in several other events.
In the field events, co-captain Jill Lynch '05 threw 142 feet, 10 inches to win the discus and came in second in the shot put. Despite suffering from back pain after the shot put, she came through later in the day with her best collegiate throw in the discus. Teammate Jennifer Donahue '05 placed second in the hammer throw with a 157-10 effort.
Brittany Grovey '06 won the triple jump competition with a mark of 39-7 3/4. In the pole vault, Janea Russ '06 and first-year Tiffany Chang '08 took second and third place, respectively, jumping 11-5 3/4 for the second week in a row.
Meanwhile, on the track, the 4x100-meter relay team took first place with a time of 47.52, its best mark in the event all year. "We felt a lot better today than we have in previous meets. We are really coming together and our time is coming down," said sprinter Jaylon White '05.
The relay squad had hoped to run a time of about 46 seconds, and nearly reached its goal on Saturday. "If we can stay in the mid- to low-47s we are looking to be contenders," said Head Coach Robert Johnson.
Fara Kitton '05 had a remarkable day, winning both the 100- and 400-meter hurdles. Her 1:00.91 finish in the 400-meter hurdles is only a tenth of a second off the qualifying time for NCAA Regionals. She also ran her fastest time in the 100-meter hurdles by .13 seconds, leading the pack in 14.19.
Anna Willard '06 came within two seconds of the NCAA Regional qualifying time in the steeplechase. Her school-record time of 10:54 was all the more impressive considering that it was her first appearance in the event after just two weeks of training.
"I felt really good, but I was kind of surprised by my nervousness because I rarely get nervous," Willard said. "I felt relaxed and comfortable in the water jumps and I was surprised by how easy they were."
Willard's transition from middle distances to the steeplechase was not expected to be as effortless as she made it appear. As men's distance runner Owen Washburn '06 said, "If the steeplechase were a Broadway musical, it would be L'es Miserables."
While the mile run is rarely featured in outdoor track meets, the Brown Invitational held the event this year in order to honor the achievements of Olympic bronze medalist, world record holder and Brown alum Norm Taber '13. Taber ran a then-record 4:12.6 in the mile just two years after his graduation and held the world record for eight years. Senior Development Advisor Rick Marshall '71 created honorary plaques to be given away each year to the male and female winners of the Norm Taber Mile.
In Saturday's Taber Mile, Naja Ferjan '07 continued her recent streak of excellent performances with a second place finish in 4:50.36. Ferjan, a native of Slovenia, said the mile was a new racing experience for her. "This was my first mile ever. In Europe we just don't have it," she said.
Bridget Gagne '05, meanwhile, had a breakthrough performance in the mile, placing fourth in 5:00.46. After a series of injuries kept her out since the spring of 2003, Gagne returned to competition in the 1,500-meter run two weeks ago, but it was not until this past Saturday that she showed her potential to make a significant impact during outdoors. "I felt like I was right on pace and racing smart. I don't have a base built up yet, so I must run smarter than they do," Gagne said.
Continuing the trend of solid performances in the running events, Michol Monaghan' 07 and Herald Senior Sports Writer Jilane Rodgers '06 both set personal records in the 5,000 meter run. Monaghan won the race by 14 seconds in 17:07, a five-second personal best, while Rodgers scored en route to improving on her past time in the event by over a minute.
After accomplishing its goal by winning this past weekend's meet, the team is poised to continue its success on April 23 when it returns to Storrs, Conn., to compete in the University of Connecticut Invitational.
