On Friday March 8th and Saturday March 9th, the Mammoths competed at the NCAA Division III Indoor Track & Field National Championships. Eliza Cardwell earned her All-American honors twice, placing sixth in both the Long Jump and 60 Meter Hurdles! The Women's Distance Medley Relay of Zoë Marcus, Casie Eifrig, Piper Lentz and Julia Schor placed 10th!
Pre-Meet Fun
Eliza Cardwell competing in the Long Jump
Photo taken by Jen Reagan
Long Jump
Eliza Cardwell got the meet started for the Mammoths on Friday morning in the Long Jump. Eliza competed in the first flight, as the women with the eleventh through twentieth best long jump marks this indoor season competed in the first flight and Eliza entered the meet with the fourteenth best jump of the season.
Eliza got out to a great start, jumping 5.67 meters (18' 7.25") on her first jump, an incredible start! This jump was only 1 centimeter short of her personal best. After her flight concluded, Eliza led her flight and qualified for the Long Jump finals by holding one of the top-9 jumps from the two flights. Eliza jumped well on all five jumps she took, with her shortest jump of the day being 5.50 meters (18' 0.5").
Eliza's first jump placed her sixth in the country, earning All-American honors! All-American honors are given to the first-eight finishers in each event at Nationals. This was Eliza's first time earning All-American honors and especially impressive as she entered the Long Jump with the fourteenth best jump of the season. Eliza showed up and competed well and was rewarded!
Eliza Cardwell on the All-American podium!
Photo taken by Jen Reagan
All-American!
Eliza's first jump placed her sixth in the country, earning All-American honors! All-American honors are given to the first-eight finishers in each event at Nationals. This was Eliza's first time earning All-American honors!
This is an especially impressive achievement as Eliza entered the Long Jump with the fourteenth best jump of the season. Eliza competed at a very high level on Friday and was rewarded for it!
Coach Rubin and Eliza celebrating her first All-American honors! Coach Murphy and Coach Rubin coached Eliza in the Long Jump this season - congratulations to our amazing coaches!
Eliza Cardwell competing in the 60 Meter Hurdles Preliminaries
Photo taken by Jen Reagan
60 Meter Hurdles
After taking 5 jumps in the Long Jump, Eliza Cardwell passed on her last jump in the Long Jump to warm up for the 60 Meter Hurdles preliminaries.
Eliza competed in the third heat and ran a great race, crossing the finish line in second place in her heat in a time of 8.60 seconds, a personal best and School Record time!
Eliza qualified for the 60 Meter Hurdle Final to be held on Saturday by running one of the five fastest times from the preliminaries, in addition to the winners of each heat qualifying for the final.
The Distance Medley Relay after finishing the race
All photos taken by Jen Reagan
Distance Medley Relay
Next on the track for the Mammoths was the Distance Medley Relay.
Zoë Marcus led off for the Mammoths on the 1200 leg, competing in her first collegiate National Championship meet. Zoë positioned herself well in the pack, in touch with the race leaders. When the pace quickened with two laps to go, Zoë covered the move and stayed with the pack while pulling away from other competitors in the race. Zoë gave it her all and passed the baton to Casie Eifrig for the 400 leg in eighth place!
Casie got the baton and immediately moved into seventh place and held that position for the first lap of her leg. Casie ran a fantastic second lap of her race, passing off to Piper Lentz in fifth place after running her fastest 400 split ever of 55.90 seconds, which was also the second fastest 400 leg of the entire race!
Piper ran a fantastic leg and got out at the fastest she ever has in an 800! Piper held her own and competed the whole way through, splitting a 2:13.9, which is more than three seconds faster than her personal best in the open 800, a huge improvement! Piper handed off to Julia in eighth place after her strong 800 leg!
Julia ran a very quick opening lap and got in touch with the main pack. Julia put herself in the mix and gave it her all, bringing the Mammoths across the finish line in 10th place, earning the Mammoths Second Team All-American honors!
Looking to the future, our entire Women's DMR and our alternate Bella Lozier all return next year and the future is bright for this squad!
Eliza Cardwell (7) competing in the 60 Meter Hurdles Final
Photo taken by Jen Reagan
60 Meter Hurdles
After an incredibly successful first day at Nationals, Eliza Cardwell returned to the track on Saturday to compete in the 60 Meter Hurdles Final.
Eliza got out to a strong start and was clean through all of the hurdles and crossed the finish line in sixth place in a time of 8.68 seconds! Eliza earned her second career All-American honors, following earning All-American honors in the Long Jump on Friday, capping of an amazing weekend for the junior!
Congratulations to Coach Rubin and Coach Petty who coach Eliza in the Hurdles events!
Overall, it was a successful weekend for the Mammoths and they all gained great experience at the National Championships! We are so grateful for all of the family and friends who supported the Mammoths in person and from afar this weekend!
UP NEXT for the Mammoths is the J. Elmer Swanson Invitational on Saturday, March 23rd. The meet will be hosted by Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut.