After five distance runners posted Eastern College Athletic Conference championship qualifying times at the Valentine's Invitational last weekend, the distance runners on the Dartmouth women's track and field team are finally beginning to experience success, distance coach Maribel Souther '96 said.
Souther, who was named an All-American four times during her athletic career at Dartmouth, viewed her teams over the past few years as young, up-and-coming and expanding, she said. This year, with several quality meets under its belt, the team has made substantial progress, Souther said.
"This season, we have finally come around," she said. "In previous years we have always had one or two girls who are successful, but this year we have more than ever."
This success has been tangible throughout the season and is further demonstrated by the fact that five of Dartmouth's seven individual qualifiers for the ECAC meet are distance runners.
Laura Tabor '10 will run the mile while Andrea Imhof '11 and Chrissy Supino '12 will compete in the 1000-meter run. Lizzy Short '12 and Monica Hernandez '10 also qualified in both the 3,000-meter and 5,000-meter races.
Currently, Hernandez, Supino and Tabor are also set to run legs of the distance medley relay. Supino will make a third appearance as a leg in the 4x400-meter relay.
"This year, the distance girls have all been training together since the fall, and I think that our team has a great feeling to it," Souther said. "We are all really supportive, we work off of each other, and we feel more like a team than ever before."
This unity has even been demonstrated on the track Imhof and Supino's ECAC qualifying times were less than a hundredth of a second apart at 2:55.71 and 2:55.70, respectively.
"Andrea and I really support each other, especially in our workouts together," Supino said. "We are both benefiting from each other's presence. I help her with speed and she helps me keep up my endurance."
Teammates Short and Hernandez find themselves in a similar situation, finishing close together in both the 3,000-meter and 5,000-meter events. In their ECAC qualifying race, Short beat Hernandez by 1.49 seconds in the 5,000-meter. In the 3,000-meter run, their roles reversed Hernandez beat Short by 2.20 seconds.
"Monica and I definitely work very well together," Short said. "We do all of the same training. She is so reliable and dedicated, and she wants to run really well. If she does well, I know that I can too."
Qualifying individually for the ECAC indoor meet for the first time as a senior has been especially rewarding for Tabor, whose qualifying time in the mile broke the five-minute barrier.
"I've been trying to break five since my freshman year," Tabor said. "It was definitely an amazing feeling. Now that I have gotten past this barrier I can put myself in races that are more competitive, like Heps and ECACs."
Tabor, Imhof, Hernandez and Short competed in back-to-back races last weekend, helping the women to work off each other's successes, Imhof said.
Other qualifiers for the ECAC meet are Emmaline Berg '13 in the shotput and Natalie Stoll '10 in the 400-meter, 500-meter and distance medley relay events. Elizabeth Garland '13 and Alexandra Tanner '11 will both run on Dartmouth's 4x400-meter relay team.
Although the distance women are thrilled about qualifying for the ECAC meet, Imhof said, the team is unanimously focused on Heptagonals, the Ivy League Championship.
"This year, we have the strongest team [we've had] going into Heps, so we are really excited to see how it works out," Imhof said. "I feel like we really have a chance to score some points, which is our main goal."
Consistent training is crucial this late in the season, although distance running also incorporates an important mental element, Tabor said.
"This is the point in the season where we need to maintain value of workouts, but we begin to taper the distance," she said. "It's really important to keep our energy up."
The Big Green will return to Boston this weekend for the USA Track and Field regional meet before competing at Heptagonals on Feb. 27-28. This year, Dartmouth will host Heps in Leverone Field House.
Imhof added that the team will set its focus on the ECAC meet, which will be held March 6-7 in Boston, Mass., once it competes in the Heptagonal meet.
