BY JAYMES FAIRFAX-COLOMBO

In print | Published April 3, 2008

Despite some chilly weather, the Garnet women’s outdoor track and field team brought the heat at Widener University’s Danny Curran Invitational. The team competed Friday and Saturday, March 29-30.

The action kicked off on Friday afternoon with four strong performances in the 5000 meters. Competing in only her first 5k on the track, Cait Mullarkey ’09 scorched the rubberized track in 18 minutes, 35.72 seconds to finish in first place. Fellow juniors Emma Stanley and Faith Pampel followed her in, clocking 19:00.84 and 19:33.25 for third and ninth place, respectively. Rebecca Woo ’11 also ran a strong race, making her individual outdoor debut in 20:19.76, a personal record.

Mullarkey’s time wasn’t just good for first — it landed her eighth on the Swarthmore all-time list. In examining her race strategy, Mullarkey said, “It was the first time I’ve ever raced a 5k on the track. I didn’t know how I was gonna feel. The pace was steady and I felt good in my third mile so I dropped my splits down.” She was also glad to have some support from her teammates in the unfamiliar event, as she said, “It was really nice to have some teammates in the race with me. We worked well together.”

Head coach Pete Carroll was pleased with the girls’ 5k effort, as he said, “Cait was eighth all time. For a half-miler, that’s pretty good. She kinda toyed until the end and sat and pounced. It was also good to see Emma running well in the five again; it means she’s back in shape and recovered from her injury.” When asked why so many girls run the 5k, Carroll said, “People ran this event as an off event or an exploratory event. Emma ran this event to shake off some rust. We don’t want to run people in the same event week after week so we switch it around.”

Pampel was also pleased with Friday’s results, as she said, “Coach was happy; he said it was a solid first race for all of us. I didn’t run a personal record but for the first time ever I ran negative splits in the 5k so I was happy. Mullarkey ran a really great race, and Emma is definitely coming back strong from her injury ’cause she ran really well.”

The action continued the next day, with a solid contingent of Garnet women competing in a plethora of events. Lauren Deluca ‘10, Cait Russell ’11 and Melina Healey ’08 all recorded Conference qualifying times, running 5:15.45, 5:18.05 and 5:24.77 respectively. Bess Ritter ’09 pulled off a distance double, running both the 1500 and the 800 meters in a sharpening effort for a run at Princeton University’s Sam Howell Invitational on Friday (she’ll be joined by Mullarkey and Nyika Corbett ’10).

Coach Carroll was also proud of the 1500-meter results. “I thought Cait Russell ran really well and Lauren had a good opener. Melina was solid too. Nyika was ready to go but she tweaked her ankle Friday. She’ll have her time though,” he said.

The Garnet were also well represented in the sprints and field events. Nathalie De Gaiffier ’10 competed in three events on Saturday. On the track she recorded a personal record in the 200 meters, running a time of 31.83 seconds. She also competed in the long jump and made her collegiate triple-jump debut, jumping 3.87 meters and 8.53 meters respectively for the events.

Heather Hightower ’09 competed in all three major throwing events. She blasted the shot 8.07 meters, flung the discus 19.49 meters and made her collegiate javelin debut with an effort of 13.30 meters.

The Garnet will next be in action tomorrow with action from Princeton University’s Sam Howell Invite, and on Saturday, April 5 when the team rocks the Osprey Invitational at Richard Stockton College.

Disclosure note: Nyika Corbett is a contributor to The Phoenix but had no role in the production of this article.

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