CMC75 Moments: 2019 Women's Track and Field Edges Redlands to Keep SCIAC Streak Alive
As part of the buildup to the 75th Anniversary celebration for Claremont McKenna College (visit CMC's 75th Anniversary Countdown Page to learn more), we are reliving many of the great moments from CMS athletic department history over the 75-day countdown from April 17 to July 1. If you were a part of this great moment and would like to add to the memories, or if you would like to submit your memories of your own favorite CMS Athletics moment, fill out the form on our main 75th Anniversary page.
Great Moments from 75 Years of Athletics
2019 Women's Track and Field: Athenas Take SCIAC Title by 3 Points
The CMS Women's Track and Field team had an impressive streak of four straight SCIAC titles heading into the 2019 Championships, which it hosted at its home facility. The previous year was one of the top seasons in program history, as three individuals (Tyra Abraham, Emily Bassett and Bryn McKillop) won national championships in their senior years. The 2019 SCIAC title, though, was much more up in the air as Redlands brought a team in that ranked No. 3 in the nation and figured to threaten the CMS stranglehold on the league crown.
In what was truly a team effort, the Athenas held off Redlands for their fifth straight title, winning 150-147 in a result that wasn't certain until the final announcement. Senior Jacque Desmond won the pole vault with a SCIAC record of 13'0.25", and qualified for the NCAA's where she earned All-America honors with a fourth-place finish, and junior Abigail Johnson captured the 1500 meters, for the only two individual championships the Athenas mustered. Other than that, the team title was all about individaul PRs and making every single point count.
The 4x100 relay of Sabrine Griffith, Aubrey Egerter, Amanda Mell and Grace Pratt finished second by .1 for two extra key points (eight points instead of six), and all four had more success in their individual events. Griffith and Egerter were fourth and sixth in the 100 hurdles, Pratt and Griffith were fifth and eighth in the 100 meters, Griffith (second), Pratt (fourth), Mell (fifth) and Egerter (eighth) all scored in the long jump, while Mell (third) and Carolyn Weisman (fourth) both scored in the triple jump.
In the distance events, Malea Martin finished in the top three in both the 5000 and the 10000, a difficult feat on back-to-back days. Riley Harmon did a similar double by scoring in both the 5000 and the steeplechase. Dulcie Jones, Alexandra Lambros and Samantha Baker all scored in the 10000 as well, and Johnson and Natalie Marsh joined Martin and Harmon by scoring in the 5000. Harmon, Sophie Gitlin and Matilda Msall went 3-4-5 in the steeple, and Olivia Gleason and Olivia Palenscar finished sixth and seventh in the 1500, behind Johnson's winning time. Julia Drooff (400), Bailey Mknelly (400 hurdles), McKenzie Deutsch (800), Amanda Gallop (shot put) and Rosey Sams (discus) all earned valuable points as well, while Griffith and Mell qualified for nationals in the long jump and triple jump, respectively, to continue on with their seasons, along with Desmond's All-America performance in the pole vault.
Grace Pratt:
The first thing I remember about the 2019 SCIAC Championship was the difference in responsibility as compared to the year before. Many of our top athletes had graduated the year before, and we knew Redlands' women's team had a lot of competitive athletes; I think the whole team knew that for us to win everyone would have to perform at their best. Seeing as we had won the SCIAC Championship four years in a row, we wanted to keep that streak alive.
My first event was the 100 meter prelims. While I was not seeded to make the finals, I PRed significantly, and both my teammate Sabrine and I qualified for finals the next day. After that, it was almost like everything clicked. In my other events, I either scored where I was seeded, or even above what was expected. This happened across the board for many of my teammates. It felt amazing to know that all of the hard work and training we had all put in throughout the season paid off.
One of my strongest memories that day was the 4 x 100 meter relay. We were seeded second, and I was the last leg. Amanda handed me the baton at almost the same time as the fourth leg of the Occidental team received hers while the Redlands team was far ahead in first. I knew we had to finish second to get the points we were expecting and gave everything I had to finish in that place. Because my teammates had given me a good position, I was able to match the Occidental runner, and finish a tenth of a second before the Occidental team.
In the end we won the SCIAC championship by three points. It was truly a team effort that would've been impossible if even one or two people hadn't done as well as they did. It was amazing to see all of my teammates competing, especially as the meet was at our home track. I felt so much support from everyone around me. The fact that it was so close made the win that much more rewarding. While I didn't know at the time that it would be my last full year competing as an Athena, I'm so happy to end my track career on such a high note and so incredibly thankful for all of the amazing and talented people I was able to practice with, compete against, and cheer on.
Carolyn Weisman:
The SCIAC Championship in 2019 was definitely one of my favorite memories competing as an Athena. There was a lot of anticipation leading up to the meet and pressure to win but once the events started, you could really feel the excitement and support from everyone on the team. The morning of the second day, I was actually really sick and could barely run the warmup lap around the track during our shakeout. I had missed the SCIAC Championship the year prior due to an injury and I wanted to be there for my team so I drank a lot of Gatorade, took some DayQuil and competed.
I think the adrenaline from the whole day kicked in because I ended up jumping better than I had in a while. I felt like we really came together as a team with each athlete stepping up and making every single point count. Having the SCIAC Championship at home and running the victory lap on the same track that we ran brutal workouts on was a pretty good feeling.
2019 Women's Track and Field Roster
Head Coach: Glenn Stewart
Assistant Coaches: John Goldhammer, Emily Ramey-Root, Bob Ramsey, Collin Christensen, Caleb McCurry, Megumi Abe
Isabelle Antolin (Fr., Distance, Scripps)
Amanda Avery (Fr., Pole Vault, CMC)
Samantha Baker (So., Distance, Scripps)
Morgan Blevins (Sr., Distance, HMC)
Meghan Bobrowsky (So., Distance, Scripps)
Brooklyn Button (Fr., Distance, CMC)
Julia Canfield (Jr., Jumps, Scripps)
Julia Catolico (Fr., Jumps, CMC)
Danielle Chami (Sr., Pole Vault, CMC)
Emily Clarke (Fr., Distance, Scripps)
Natasha Crepeau (Fr., Distance, HMC)
Jaque Desmond (Sr., Pole Vault, Scripps)
McKenzie Deutsch (Sr., Sprints, Scripps)
Julia Drooff (So., Middle Distance, Scripps)
Aubrey Egerter (So., Hurdles, HMC)
Anne Elliot (Fr., Distance, HMC)
Mikaela Gallardo (Sr., Throws, Scripps)
Amanda Gallop (Jr., Throws, Scripps)
Sophie Gitlin (Fr., Distance, CMC)
Olivia Gleason (So., Distance, Scripps)
Sabrine Griffith (Jr., Hurdles, HMC)
Sarah Halvorsen (So., Distance, HMC)
Riley Harmon (Fr., Distance, Scripps)
Delaney Hartmann (So., Distance, Scripps)
Abigail Johnson (So., Distance, Scripps)
Dulcie Jones (So., Distance, Scripps)
Alexandra Lambros (Jr., Distance, Scripps)
Sophia Liles (So., Distance, Scripps)
Deyana Marsh (So., Hurdles, HMC)
Natalie Marsh (Jr., Distance, Scripps)
Malea Martin (Sr., Distance, CMC)
Bridget McCarthy (Jr., Hurdles, CMC)
Jackie McVay (So., Distance, Scripps)
Amanda Mell (Jr., Jumps, CMC)
Bailey Mknelly (So., Hurdles, Scripps)
Marika Morelan (Jr., Throws, CMC)
Matilda Msall (Sr., Distance, Scripps)
Serena Myjer (Fr., Distance, CMC)
Olivia Palenscar (Sr., Distance, Scripps)
Robin Peterson (Fr., Pole Vault, CMC)
Grace Pratt (So., Sprints, CMC)
Rosey Sams (Fr., Throws, HMC)
Ariel Sepulveda (So., Pole Vault, CMC)
Katie Snell (Jr., Sprints, CMC)
Mia Syme (So., Distance, CMC)
Chloe Taylor (Fr., Distance, HMC)
Jessica Torrey (So., Distance, CMC)
Sobechukwu Uwajeh (Fr., Throws, CMC)
Theresa Versen (So., Distance, CMC)
Kelly Watanabe (Jr., Jumps, CMC)
Carolyn Weisman (So., Jumps, CMC)
Georgia Wood (So., Throws, CMC)