After performing extremely well the weekend before, the women's track team fought to maintain intensity at Saturday's New England Track and Field Championships at Holy Cross.
In a meet that falls between the Outdoor Heptagonal Championships and next weekend's Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference Championships in importance, the women ran to a ninth-place finish out of the 19 schools competing.
"There were some really strong teams there. We had some good individual competition--for the sprinters especially," Becky Gayman '95 said.
The women throwers performed well, with Candi Shoemaker '94 placing third in the shotput and Amy Winchester '96 taking fifth. Winchester also scored points in the discus and javelin events.
"I was really pleased with the way it turned out. It is difficult mentally for the team to stay at peak condition for three weeks in a row but we went in with a very positive attitude and overall, it was a good performance," Coach Sandra Ford-Centonze said.
Also scoring for Dartmouth were long jumper Kaia Greene '97, hurdler Helene Sisti '96 and in the 3,000 meter event, runners Kristin Cobb '95 and Kristin Pierce '96. Cobb and Pierce finished fourth and fifth, respectively.
"It was a weekend to come down from Heps and to start building for next weekend," Shoemaker said.
Dartmouth's big victory this season was at the Heptagonal Championships the weekend before. The women finished fourth overall, their strongest showing in seven years. A squad of 15 of Dartmouth's best travelled to Columbia to compete against the Ivy League's Track and Field elite.
The Big Green had three first-place finishes, including a personal record for discus thrower Winchester. Shoemaker won the shotput and captain Karen Rieper '94 took first in the heptathlon.
Although there was a lot of team pressure at the heptagonals, Shoemaker called it the highlight of the season.
"We really came together for Heps. Several people pulled their best individual performances," Shoemaker said.
Seven team members will travel to George Mason to face the top competitors in the northeast region at the ECACs. Unless they qualify for Nationals, the ECACs will mark the end of a strong season for women's track and field.
"We have some very good freshmen and we are really psyched for next year. We had some injuries in almost every event but as the season went on, people became more mentally tough," Gayman said.
