Video Tribute: The CMS Women's Track and Field Class of 2020

CLAREMONT, Calif. - The Claremont-Mudd-Scripps women's track and field senior class won SCIAC Championships in all three of their completed seasons, after edging Redlands by three points a year ago for their third in a row (and the program's fifth in a row). The Athena Class of 2020 was hoping to make it four-for-four, before their final season was cut short by the suspension of spring sports.

In addition to their success in the league, the senior class was also part of a CMS program that came in fourth place at the NCAA Division III Championships their sophomore season in 2018. Their current streak of five straight league titles matches the longest stretch in program history, matching a stretch from 1998-2002, while their dual record in four seasons stood at 25-1 after a 2-0 start this spring.  

Here is a video tribute to the 13 members of the Class of 2020:



The 13 members of the CMS Women's Track and Field Class of 2020 are as follows: 

Julia Canfield (Portland, Ore. - Scripps, biology)
Canfield joined the Athenas as a junior and competed in the long jump and the 100 meters at the SCIAC Championships last year, setting a PR in the long jump at the conference meet with a top distance of 4.6 meters. She set a personal best in the 800 at the first SCIAC Multi-Dual this year (2:29.94) and earned top-10 finishes in the 100 meters at two of the three SCIAC Multi-Duals a year ago, with a top time of 13.43. 

Laura Fleming (Boulder, Colo. - Harvey Mudd, engineering)
Fleming returned to the Athenas this spring after studying abroad last season, while also competing for the cross country team in the fall. During her last track season, she qualified for the finals in the 800 meters at the 2018 SCIAC Championships, and set a personal-best in the 800 of 2:25.57. This year, she set a PR in the mile at the Pomona-Pitzer All Comers, and helped her 4x800 relay team to a fifth-place finish at the Rossi Relays. 

Amanda Gallop (Reno, Nev. - Scripps, English)
Gallop earned five top-10 finishes in the throws at the SCIAC Championships during her career, including a fourth-place finish in the javelin (with a PR of 112'11") and a seventh-place finish in the shot put last year, providing CMS seven points in a meet the Athenas won by three. She was also fifth in the shot put as a sophomore and seventh in the javelin. She started off this year with new PRs in the discus (37.77 meters) and hammer (32.45 meters) at the Rossi Relays.

Sabrine Griffith (Santa Cruz, Calif. - Harvey Mudd, engineering and economics)
Griffith had a decorated career that saw her earn All-SCIAC honors six times (including three in the long jump), USTFCCCA West Region honors four times, and All-America honors once with the 2018 4x100 relay team. She ranks No. 3 in CMS history in the long jump (18'10.5") and is part of a school record in the 4x100 relay, helping the Athenas finish eighth at nationals. A year ago, she scored in the SCIAC Championships in three individual events (second in long jump, fourth in 100-meter hurdles, eighth in the 100 meters) to provide 14 points to the CMS winning total.

Nirel JonesMitchell (Palo Alto, Calif. - Claremont McKenna, government and Spanish)
JonesMitchell returned to the Athenas this season after studying abroad last year. As a sophomore, she was part of an All-America winning 4x100 relay team that came in eighth at nationals and set a new school record. She was All-SCIAC in two individual events as a sophomore, coming in second in the 100 meters (behind only teammate Tyra Abraham) with a PR of 11.86, and third in the 200 meters, while helping the 4x100 team set a SCIAC record with a 46.48. This year, she had two top-five finishes at the first SCIAC Multi-Dual (third in the 100, fifth in the 200). 

Gabriella Kimmerly (Seattle, Wash. - Scripps, molecular biology)
Kimmerly returned to the Athenas this spring after missing her junior year, and was also part of the women's cross country team in the fall. In her last track season, she qualified for the SCIAC finals in the 1500 as one of nine competitors out of 47 to break the 5-minute mark, finishing in 4:58.15. She also came in ninth as a first-year in 2017 with a time of 5:02.96. She was 20th at the SCIAC Cross Country Championships in the fall to earn All-SCIAC honors, earning a 23:19.5 time over the 6K race. 

Alexandra Lambros (Upland, Calif. - Scripps, biochemistry)
Lambros competed in both cross country and track and field in all four of her seasons, and was a part of seven SCIAC Championship teams, hoping to make it a perfect 8-for-8 this spring. A year ago, she earned a seventh-place finish at the SCIAC Championships in the 10000 meters with a new PR of 40:08.60, and she earned a PR at the SCIAC Cross Country Championships this fall with a 23:40.7, good for 25th place. She capped off her career with her first individual win, taking first place in the 5000 at the first SCIAC Multi-Dual this spring.

Bridget McCarthy (Lake Oswego, Ore. - Claremont McKenna, economics and literature)
McCarthy earned a top-10 finish at the 2019 SCIAC Championships in the 400-meter hurdles, earning 10th, the second time she was in the top 10 in her career after coming in ninth in 2017. She began this year with a second-place finish in the 4x400 relay and a third-place finish in the 400 at the OIDFE Challenge Meet hosted by CMS, and was fourth in both the 400-meter hurdles and the 4x400 at the first SCIAC Multi-Dual. She was also a SCIAC All-Academic Team selection as a dual major in economics and literature. 

Amanda Mell (Los Altos, Calif. - Claremont McKenna, literature and history)
Mell qualified for the NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championships last year, and was all set to travel to the NCAA Division III Indoor Championships in March, when the championships were canceled. Both times she earned her qualifying mark on her final jump of the last qualifying meet, moving into No. 3 in school history last year at the Redlands Final Qualifier with a jump of 12 meters even (39'4.5"). She ranks No. 3 in CMS history in the triple jump and No. 8 in the long jump, and was also part of a SCIAC Champion 4x100 relay team as a first-year in 2017. 

Marika Morelan (Mead, Wash. - Claremont McKenna, neuroscience)
Morelan earned a top-10 finish in the shot put at the 2019 SCIAC Championships, breaking 10 meters (10.09 or 33'1.25") to finish in ninth place out of 24 competitors. She began this year with a new PR in the hammer throw of 119'10" to place second at the first SCIAC Multi-Dual, while adding a seventh-place finish in the shot put. She began her career as a cross country/middle-distance runner, competing in the 1500 at the SCIAC Championships as a first-year, before making a seamless adjustment to the throwing events in her last two-plus seasons, competing in all four throws and earning 12 different top-10 finishes. 

Georgia Scherer (Oakland, Calif. - Claremont McKenna, science and management)
Scherer was a member of both the cross country and the track and field teams, and was part of the seven-member cross country contingent that competed at the NCAA Championships as a junior. She competed primarily in the steeplechase for the track and field team, coming in fourth place in the 2018 SCIAC Championships with a time of 11:43.15, as well as eighth in the 2017 Championships as a first-year.  She was poised for a big senior season, as the first time she ran the steeple this year, she came in first place with a new PR of 11:36.26 at the first SCIAC Multi-Dual.

Katie Snell (Corona, Calif. - Claremont McKenna, biochemistry)
Snell was also a part of both the cross country and the had two top-10 finishes in the SCIAC Championships during her career in the 400, coming in ninth as a first-year and tenth as a sophomore. A year ago, she switched to the 800 and set a PR at the SCIAC Championships with a 2:24.78, which placed her 12th. She began SCIAC competition this year with an eighth-place finish in the 800 at the first Multi-Dual, as well as second place at the OIDFE Challenge at CMS. In her career, she had 12 different top-10 finishes in individual events, and was part of a 4x400 relay team that won a SCIAC Multi-Dual last year.  

Carley Willey (Hilton Head Island, S.C. - Scripps)
Willey was a new addition to the Athenas this season, joining the CMS track and field team for her final semester to compete in the distance events. Although her only season was cut short, she was able to complete the 3000 meters at the Rossi Relays to put her name in the CMS track and field history books as a letter-winner.