The Boston University women’s indoor track & field team has been unanimously chosen in the preseason coaches’ poll to earn their fourth consecutive conference championship. The Terriers, who received eight first-place votes (coaches were not able to vote for their own team), earned 64 points and edged out second-place New Hampshire (56 points, one first-place vote). Albany earned a close third tallying 50 points.
Fourth through seventh place were only separated by four total points with Maine earning fourth (34 points), Binghamton fifth (33), Stony Brook sixth (31) and UMBC seventh (30). Rounding out the nine team field is Vermont (18) and Hartford (8).
The Terriers will be running without two standouts in Marisa Ryan and Tahari James, but have several athletes ready to fill their shoes. Junior Whitney Ford earned 36 points and the Coaches’ Award at last year’s championship with first place finishes in the 55 meter dash and long jump coupled with second place finishes in the 200 meter dash and triple jump, all of which set personal records. Senior Andrea Walkonen, who earned All-America honors in cross country, will be looking to continue her success from the fall and pick up where Ryan left off in the distance category.
New Hampshire returns last year’s Most Outstanding Rookie in sophomore Kaitlin Kwiecien after her impressive first place time of 1:15.40 in the 500 meters. Also returning is junior captain Rita Ciambra who won the poll vault with a 3.6 meter jump and went on to earn fifth at the ECAC Championship with a lep of 3.85.
The Great Danes will rely on senior hurdler Kamilah McShine who won the 55-meter hurdles for the second straight year in 8.06 seconds to earn valuable points throughout the season. Junior Zuliana Fontanez, who finished second in the 500-meter dash by .45 seconds, will also return to help Albany pick up points. Senior Jenn Gurrant, the current record holder for the triple jump at Albany, will return and look to improve last year’s third-place finish.
Maine is highlighted by sophomore Allyson Howatt, who set a school record while winning the 200 meter dash, placed third in the 55-meter dash and ran a leg of the first-place 4x400 relay team. The Black Bears also return senior Vicki Tolton and sophomore Lital Pilosof from the 4x400 relay team to help defend their title.
Binghamton senior Kim Williams sat out during last year’s indoor season due to injury, but judging by her Most Outstanding Track Performer accolade in the spring, Williams should prove to be a key sprint contributor this winter. Seventeen freshmen will make up this year’s Bearcat squad, and the team’s success will rest heavily on their shoulders.
The sophomore duo of sisters Holly and Lucy Van Dalen will be a large part of the Seawolves’ strength. Coming off of an outstanding cross country season, Stony Brook should have a competitive edge in the distance events. The squad only lost four to graduation last year and will be returning all but one of its performers that placed within the Top 10.
UMBC will suffer a loss with the graduation of Ashley Fauntleroy, last year’s Most Outstanding Field Athlete, and will look to sophomore Rachelle Wright to earn the throwing points that were previously picked up by Fauntleroy. The Retrievers will rely on a strong junior class, returning the likes of Tawana Wilson, who took fourth in the 200 meters and fifth in the 55 dash, and twin sisters Kierra and Tierra Gregory, who earned fourth and fifth place in the 55 hurdles, respectively.
Vermont graduated a strong senior class, not the least of which is Carmen Lagala who was the first woman in America East history to win the 800-meter run three consecutive times. Returning will be junior Aly Millett a mid-distance runner who earned the most points for the Cats at last year’s championship.
Hartford is a young team looking to make major improvements this year. With 22 underclassmen, 14 of which are sophomores, the Hawks will look towards their youth to surprise the league. The lone seniors, Elizabeth Foster and Stephanie Barbosa, will direct the squad in the distance and jumping categories, respectively.