Women's track goes to Boston, Harrison qualifies for nationals

Throughout her season, an athlete must use her competitive experiences to gauge her situation and to progress. For women's track, the Princeton Relays, New Jersey Open and Terrier Classic over the past two weeks provided arenas to gain personal perspectives on the rest of the year.

And if the individual results of the past two weeks are any indication, the team should excel in the important upcoming dual meets and in the Heptagonal Championships on Feb. 28.

Always a consummate performer, senior captain Nicole Harrison ran her way into the National Championships at the highly regarded Terrier Classic in Boston, automatically qualifying with a stellar 55-meter hurdle time of 7.67 seconds.

"This early in the season, that's very strong," head coach Peter Farrell said of Harrison's time.

Pushing to the end

Harrison's success was spurred on by tough competition in the form of Essex Community College's Joyce Bats, who actually bested Harrison in the finals.

In order to progress, it is essential for Harrison, who normally coasts against lesser competition, to have someone by her side going into the last two hurdles. Early competition will benefit Harrison and the rest of the team in the future.

And while Harrison is expected to prevail in the coming weeks, other athletes proved they are also primed to lead the Tigers to victory. At the Terrier Classic, junior Bynia Reed finished fifth in the 500 meters in 1:15.45, showing that she can compete against the best. The distance medley relay team of junior Betsey Packard, Reed, senior Michelle D'Agnostino, and junior Heather Onuma finished fourth with an impressive time of 11:38.20. D'Agnostino ran a 2:14 for 800-meter leg of the relay, while Onuma ran 4:54 for the mile.

The Terrier Classic did not prove as fruitful for the Tiger jumpers. Competing in a veritable "dungeon," as Farrell called the jumping pit, senior Hadiya Green was unable to shine. The meet took too long to complete and the foul line was merely a painted stripe, not a board to spring off.

Nevertheless, under these adverse conditions, Green still managed a 7th-place finish in the long jump, although she was disappointed in her triple jump.

"The meet gave us perspective," Green said. "The local competition is not the same as competing with scholarship athletes."

The Princeton Relays and the New Jersey Invitational also provided a venue for many of the Tigers to judge themselves and to gain perspective.

Freshman Rebecca Desman won both high jump competitions, clearing a top height of five-feet, eight and one-half inches. That jump was close to the mark needed to qualify provisionally for the NCAA championships.

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Two freshmen, Sharon Jordan and Rebecca Harlow, finished first and second respectively in the triple-jump, each bounding over 37-5.

Although the future remains bright for the Tigers, they still miss the experience and ability of long-distant specialist sophomore Courtney Ebersol, who might return from a leg injury later in the season. Still, the women's track team's core of athletes will surely challenge for a Heps title and continue to excel individually.