Teams: Women's Track & Field: Press Releases

Date: Saturday, February 26, 2000

MURPHY WINS ALL-NEW ENGLAND 800 METERS CHAMPIONSHIP

BOSTON – Senior Caitlin Murphy (Norwell, MA/Notre Dame Academy) of the Tufts University women's indoor track & field team won the 800 Meters title at the 2000 All-New England Track & Field Championships hosted by Boston University on Saturday.

Murphy's 2:11.71 finish was a school record and beat the University of Connecticut's Audra Price (2:12.75) by a full second. Joanne Merlain of Northeastern University was third with a 2:13.89 time. Murphy's victory earned 10 points for Tufts, which finished 14th overall at the meet featuring the best in New England college track & field.

Murphy is the defending Division III National Champion in the 800 Meters, running a 2:13.39 at the NCAA Championship Race in Ohio last March. She will have a chance to defend her crown at the 2000 NCAA Division III Championship Meet March 10-11 at Illinois Wesleyan University.

Tufts was also helped at Saturday's All-New England meet by junior Leslie Crofton's (Somerset, MA) fourth place in the 5,000 Meters. Her 17:34.86 time was also a new school record that earned five points for the Jumbos. Sophomore Lauren Esposito (Gales Ferry, CT), who clocked a 2:18.43 for fifth in the 800 Meters, and freshman Jenny Ng (Northboro, MA), who took seventh in the 400 Meters with a 1:00.52 finish, also scored for head coach Branwen Smith-King's team.

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