Women’s track and field competed at the Boston University (BU) David Hemery Valentine Invitational and the Dartmouth Tune-Up on Feb. 9 and Feb. 10. Many of the Ephs hit their personal best times of the season and qualified for the upcoming Div. III New England Championship during both meets.
At the BU Track & Tennis Center, the Ephs competed against teams across all three NCAA divisions and had strong performances in the sprint events. In the 200m, Claire Jensen ’27 finished the race in 25.95 seconds and Camryn Taylor ’24 in 26.04 seconds, both beating previous personal records in the 200m and qualifying for the Div. III New England Championship. Malia Klein ’25 and Ella Sukup ’26 also ran the 200m, crossing the finish line at 26.48 seconds and 26.93 seconds, respectively.
“This is one of our biggest indoor meets and probably the biggest meet of the year that we go to — there’s pros there and there’s Div. I athletes there,” Sukup said.
Taylor and Jensen also represented the College in the 4x400m relay alongside Bella King-Harvey ’27 and Kelsey Tarby ’27. Due to teammate Cate Donaldson’s ’27 illness in the days leading up to the invitational, Tarby stepped in for the relay.
“[Having an alternate] kind of did two things,” Jensen explained. “One thing, is it took the pressure off, because we knew it wasn’t our ‘A’ team, per se. But we also still really wanted to get a good time — we really wanted to be competitive. It was almost extra motivation to perform really, really well.”
Despite the circumstances , the Ephs finished the relay in a competitive 3:51.82, landing the seventh spot on the College’s all-time best performance list.
Relay runner Tarby also ran a quick 1:00.14 in the 400m, landing her in the Div. III New England Championship. During the 800m, Katerina Papachela ’26 ran a personal record of 2:21.59, also solidifying her spot in the Div. III New England Championship.
Distance runners Lucy Gagnon ’24 Molly FitzGibbons ’24, and Jordan Liss-Riordan ’27 ran the mile in 4:54.11 minutes, 5:09.49 minutes, and 5:09.69 minutes, respectively — each runner qualifying for the Div. III New England Championship. Gagnon’s time was a personal best and landed her a number two spot on the all-time performance list.
The Ephs continued to triumph the next day during the field events at the Dartmouth Tune-Up in Hanover, N.H. Ellie Fitzgerald ’26 and Jae Yu ’25 tied for third in the pole vault, both clearing 3.70 meters to qualify for the Div. III New England Championship.
“The meet for me was just an opportunity to work on my confidence while jumping, and in that manner, it was a good meet,” Fitzgerald said. “I’ve been struggling with a little bit of a mental block after a bad fall, and there was a lot of progress at this meet with how comfortable I was on the runway.”
Rafaela Delgado Carpio-Rivero ’27 soared to second place in the triple jump, jumping to a personal record and Div. III New Englands qualifying mark of 11.4 meters. The Ephs also performed well in the distance events, with Helen Hurden’27 winning the 3k with a personal best and Div. III New Englands qualifying time of 10:09.05 minutes. Her teammate Kate Swann ’26 finished close behind in 10:38.64 minutes for second place and a new personal best. Charlene Peng ’26, a walk-on, placed second in the mile with a personal record of 5:19.60, also qualifying for Div. III New England Championship.
“As I was warming up, I reminded myself how grateful I was not only to have the chance to race, but also to have a place on the team,” Peng reflected.
Later on in the day, the Ephs competed in the sprint events and also finished with qualifying times for the Div. III New England Championship. Rachel Arthur ’25 ran a competitive 7.97 seconds during the 60m prelims, finishing in third place. During the finals, Arthur ran a personal best and Div. III New England Championship qualifying time of 7.91 seconds, landing a number four spot on the all-time performance list. Teammate Ziann Facey ’26 crossed the finish line in 9.69 seconds during the 60m hurdles prelims, finishing in fourth place. During the finals, Facey ran a competitive 9.66 seconds that was a personal best and a qualifying time for the Div. III New England Championship.
Reflecting on the meets and the season as a whole, Jensen shared her excitement for the team in the coming weeks. “I think, mentally, we all do a great job of encouraging and pushing each other during practice,” Jensen said. “I think trying to work on a positive mindset and reminding myself and teammates that we can do hard things — that will really just translate into racing once we get out there at the New Englands.”
