Teams: Women's Track & Field: Team Overview

With outstanding talent, superior facilities and a rich tradition, the Tufts University women's track & field program is one of New England's best regardless of division. Now in her 10th season as head coach, Kristen Morwick guides a program that annually adds to the long list of athletic and academic achievements compiled by the team since its inception in 1976.

Last year at the NCAA Indoor Championships, the distance medley relay team of Amy Wilfert, Halsey Stebbins, Jackie Ferry, and Stephanie McNamara won Tufts' second-straight NCAA Division III championship in the event. The Jumbos also had All-American performances from McNamara in the 5,000 meters and Nakeisha Jones in the triple jump. These efforts led Tufts to fifth place in the nation indoors. At the NCAA Outdoor meet, McNamara was the runner-up in the 10,000 meters and Jones placed third in the triple jump. The Jumbos were 16th as a team.

McNamara was voted the New England Regional Women's Track Athlete of the Year by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) for 2009. Logan Crane, who repeated as the conference champion in the 100-meter dash and in the long jump, earned a share of the Sebasteanski Award as the New England Small College Athletic Conference's (NESCAC) Most Outstanding Performer for 2009.

Tufts teams have long been well represented at NCAA championship meets. Including the 2009 DMR, the program has now produced 12 national champions and numerous All-Americans. Sprint and jumps standout Vera Stenhouse won eight national championships from 1989-91. Caitlin Murphy won back-to-back indoor 800 meters national championships in 1999-2000. In spring 2004, Jessica Trombly won the 400-meter hurdles at the NCAA Outdoor Championships.

As members of the NESCAC, Tufts is part of the nation's most competitive small college conference academically and athletically. Tufts also competes against other top New England Division III programs. The ECAC Championships on the schedule offers competition from outside New England, while the New England Open Championships include Division I, II, and III opponents.

The NESCAC is a group of highly selective liberal arts colleges and universities that share an academics-first philosophy for intercollegiate athletics. The Tufts program has matched its competitive success with academic achievement. In 2009, the Tufts team earned a USTFCCCA All-Academic Team award with one of the highest cumulative grade point averages in the nation. Seven individuals earned Academic All-America awards from the USTFCCCA.

Located right outside of Boston, a world-class city renowned for its academic institutions, Tufts offers a well-rounded collegiate experience to student-athletes. Within its picturesque small-college campus, Tufts is a major university with "an unprecedented diversity of programs, exceptional faculty and staff, and bright and talented students," according to President Lawrence S. Bacow. The Athletics Department sponsors a varsity program of 28 sports that is among the most competitive in the NCAA's Division III. Tufts finished 10th in the 2009 Learfield Sports Directors' Cup, which awards points based on NCAA performances.

Tufts competes and trains at outstanding facilities for both the indoor and outdoor seasons. The Gantcher Family Sports and Convocation Center opened in November 1999 and is one of the country's finest indoor facilities. The Clarence Ding Dussault outdoor complex, named for the Tufts coaching legend, is one of the top outdoor ovals in New England.

A 1988 graduate of Dartmouth College, Morwick was previously the head coach of cross country/track & field at Williams College. At Dartmouth, Morwick competed in the multi-events and held the high jump record for several years. She was also a member of basketball team. She began her coaching career at Tufts as an assistant under Branwen Smith-King. Hired at Williams in 1996, Morwick's cross country teams there qualified for the NCAA national championship race from 1996-99 and twice she was named New England Coach of the Year. At Tufts, she was selected NCAA New England Indoor Coach of the Year in 2004, 2005 and 2008.

Other talented performers returning to the team for the 2009-2010 seasons are senior sprinter Andrea Ferri, sophomore pole vaulter Heather Theiss, junior thrower Julia Feltus, junior jumper Kanku Kabongo, and junior multi-event athlete Sarah Nolet.

Field events coach Lisa Wallin will again assist Morwick this year. She was an NCAA qualifier at Wheaton. Other members of the coaching staff are Chris Combs (pole vault) and Caitlin Malloy (mid-distance/distance). Combs is the former coach of U.S. and Olympic trials qualifier Mike Drummey. Malloy, a 2003 Brandeis graduate, was an All-American in all three seasons as a senior for the Judges.