The women's track and field team did not need a team score to know it gave a strong performance at Yale's Geigengack Invitational over the weekend. The Bears pulled off three first-place finishes in the un-scored competition against Ivy League rivals Yale, Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania, among other schools.
"We did really well," said Director of Cross-Country and Track and Field Craig Lake. "We had a lot of really strong individual performances."
Ariel Wright '10 had Brown's standout performance of the day, winning the 5,000-meter run by over a minute. Wright's time of 16:59.74 earned her the fifth slot on Brown's top-10 list of indoor track performances.
"Ariel Wright ran really, really well," Lake said. "She was running this event for the first time ever. She'll be quite competitive in the Ivy League in the upcoming years."
The Bears took home another victory when Emily Bourdeau '10 placed first in the 1,000-meter run, finishing in 2:57.25, nearly one second ahead of Harvard's Kelsey Lebuffe. Meanwhile, Smita Gupta '08 earned fourth place in the one-mile run with a time of 4:51.03, a personal record.
Brown's top performance in the 3,000-meter run was an eighth-place finish by Brooke Giuffre '10 in 10:04.19.
Kristen Olds '09 dominated at the pole vault, jumping 11-09.75 to win the event. Keely Marsh '08 and Tiffany Chang '08 both jumped 11-03.75 to place third and fourth, respectively.
"The women's pole vault was really exciting," Lake said.
The Bears also had strong performances in the sprints. Naja Ferjan '07 recorded a personal best of 1:13.89 in the 500-meter dash, good for second place. Meanwhile, Thelma Breezeatl '10 placed second in the 60-meter dash with a time of 7.68 and sixth in the 200-meter dash with a time of 25.00, behind fifth-place finisher Nicole Burns '08, who clocked in at 24.96.
"Nicole Burns ran really, really well in the 200," Lake said.
Burns also competed in the 400-meter dash, placing third with a time of 56.15. The Bears took home more third-place finishes in the four by 400-meter relay, with a time of 3:48.99, and in the shot put, when Alex Hartley '10 recorded a 41-10.75 throw. In the weight throw, Sam Kuo '09 took sixth place with a throw of 44-09.50.
Lake was impressed by the squad's performance. "A lot of them are running personal bests," she said. "We'll have a lot of strong individual performances in the Ivy League Championships."
The Bears' next competition, the St. Valentine's Invitational, will take place Feb. 9 and 10 at Boston University.
"We'll be focusing on putting in good times," Lake said.
