Dartmouth Women in First Place After Day 1 of Indoor Heps

Photo by: The Ivy League/Sideline Photos

Dartmouth Women in First Place After Day 1 of Indoor Heps

2/23/2019 5:24:00 PM | Women's Track & Field

Julia Valenti wins Pole Vault for second straight year.

By: Pat Salvas

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – The Dartmouth women's track & field team is currently in first place after the first day of competition at the 2019 Ivy League Heptagonal Indoor Championship.

The Big Green have 37 points through five scored events at Harvard's Gordon Track.

HIGHLIGHTS
•   For the second year in a row, Julia Valenti stood atop the podium as the women's pole vault champion, clearing 3.91m. Her title came as the result of clearing the height on one attempt, while it took Princeton's Hanne Borstlap two tries. That would come into play as both stalled on the next height (4.01m), making Valenti's one try at 3.91m the deciding factor.
•   Valenti becomes the first Dartmouth women to win the event multiple times as only Elizabeth Beck — the only other champion — had a pole vault title for the Big Green back in 2000, the first year it was used in competition for scoring.
•   Sophomore Brooke Brunet moved up one spot in the standings from last year's meet as she finished third in 2019. Brunet cleared 3.91m on her second attempt, but took two tries at the previous height, while Borstlap needed just one.
•   Dartmouth got 10 combined points in the pentathlon as Maria Garman (3712) was third and Anoush Krafian (3539) claimed fourth, respectively.
•   After winning the indoor long jump in each of her first two seasons, Cha'Mia Rothwell was third in 2019 thanks to a 5.85m leap on her sixth and final attempt. Rothwell remains the only Dartmouth woman ever to claim the indoor crown in the long jump.
•   Rothwell did earn the top-qualifying spot in the 60m hurdles, though, as she ran an 8.46 in her heat to post the best time in the field of 12, earning a spot in Sunday's final where she will look to once again win the event as she has done in each of the last two years.
•   Amelia Ali (17.72m) and Lily Lockhart (16.29m) also picked up a combined five points in the weight throw as the duo claimed fourth and sixth, respectively.
•   Like Rothwell in the 60mH, Claire Dougherty will also move on to a final on Sunday as the top qualifier. Dougherty ran a 2.09.81 in the prelims of the 800m to post the fastest time of the day.
•   Nicole Deblasio was sixth in the 200m in 24.68 to earn one of the eight spots in Sunday's final.
•   The senior was also seventh in the 60m preliminaries and qualified for Sunday. Deblasio ran a 7.70 to punch her ticket to the final.
•   Likewise for Katie Laskoski in the 500m, running a 1:15.05 to finish seventh and earn a qualifying spot.