Teams: Women's Track & Field: Press Releases

Wednesday, March 15, 2006

BECK NAMED NEW ENGLAND INDOOR TRACK ATHLETE OF THE YEAR

MEDFORD – The U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) has named its regional award winners for the 2006 indoor season and Tufts University sophomore Catherine Beck (Brookline, NH/Hollis-Brookline) has been honored as the NCAA New England Division III Women's Track Athlete of the Year.

Beck led the Jumbos to a second-place finish at the New England Division III Championships on February 18 with a strong double in the mile and 3,000 meters. She won the mile in 5 minutes, 0.66 seconds and was second by a hair in the 3K with a 9:54.57 time. Wesleyan's Ellen Davis won the race in 9:54.55.

She further established herself as one of the region's up-and-coming distance runners by placing second in the mile at the 2006 New England Open women's indoor track & field championships hosted by Boston University on February 25. Beck finished in 4:55.39, erasing a 29-year old record in the Tufts books. She also ran the third leg of the Distance Medley Relay that placed third at the Open New England's with a 12:01.14 time.

Beck also had a record-setting at the Terrier Classic hosted by Boston University on January 28 with a stand-out performance in the 5,000 meters. Beck's time of 17 minutes, 9.18 seconds was a school record, breaking the seven-year old Tufts mark of 17:10.5 ran by Cindy Manning in 1999.

For the season, Beck ran the nation's third-fastest mile with her 4:55.39 at BU (4:55.89 converted). Her 17:09.18 5K converted to a 17:11.18 was the nation's fifth best. She ran in the 5K at the NCAA Division III Championships hosted by St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota on Saturday (March 11) and finished 13th with an 18:07.50 time.

At the NCAA Division III Cross Country Championships in November, Beck was first for Tufts and 101st overall with a time of 23:59 as the Jumbos placed 22nd.

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