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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 eighth season,
Coach Kristen Morwick guides a program that annually adds to
the long list of athletic and academic achievements compiled by the
program since its inception in 1976.
Last year at the Indoor Nationals, Tufts tied for 14th as the
distance medley relay was the national runner-up, breaking the
previous national record, and Beck was fifth in the 5K. She was
voted the New England Indoor Track Athlete of the Year for the
second straight season. Outdoors, Beck turned in All-American
performances in the 1,500 meters and 5K.
Tufts teams have long been well represented at the NCAA
championship meets. The program has produced six national champions
and numerous All-Americans. Sprint and jumps standout Vera Stenhouse
won eight national championships from 1989-91. Led by her remarkable
performances, Tufts placed third overall at the NCAA meet in 1989
and fourth in 1990 and 1991. 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. Six conference teams
finished among the top 35 at the 2007 NCAA indoor championships. Tufts also competes
against other top New England Division III programs such as
Wheaton, Keene State, Brandeis and MIT on a regular basis. The ECAC
Championships provide 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. Rachel Bloom, a 2006
Tufts graduate, was voted to the ESPN The Magazine
Academic All-America Third Team and graduated with a grade point
average over 3.9.
 Located right outside of Boston, 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 sixth in the 2006 U.S. Sports Academy Directors'
Cup, the award presented annually to the best overall
collegiate athletics programs in the country. The University's
proximity to a world-class city renowned for its academic
institutions is also a major draw.
Tufts competes and trains at outstanding facilities in all three
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 was resurfaced in 2004
has returned to its status as 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 and 2005.
First-year assistant coach Tonie-Marie Henry was a five-time
All-American at UMass Lowell, where she holds three individual and
four relay records, including a 41'11 1/2" leap in the triple jump.
Lisa Wallin and Molly Dickens will assist Morwick again this season.
Wallin was an NCAA qualifier in the throws at Wheaton College.
Dickens was an All-Ivy pole vaulter at Cornell.
All-Americans Beck and O'Brien lead the return of multiple
national qualifiers to the track & field teams. Senior tri-captain
Kaleigh Fitzpatrick, senior Jackie Ferry and junior Aubrey Wasser
bring back NCAA meet experience to the track & field team as well.
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