c/o Sterling Rodas

The women’s track and field team continued their strong season with impressive results in their last two meets at Amherst College and Connecticut College. At the Amherst Spring Fling on Saturday, April 9, the Cardinals scored five top three finishes, highlighted by Grace Devanny ’23 finishing first in the 400-meter race with a time of 55.68 and Miranda Graves ’23 finishing first in the 5,000-meter race with a time of 18:08. Devanny ’23 won her race by almost three seconds, while Graves ’23 won hers by 40 seconds.

In addition to the two victories, the meet saw Augusta Burhans ’23 finish third in the 200-meter race with a time of 26.75, Becky Velie ’22 finish third in the 1,500-meter race with a time of 4:45.56, and Mia Clark ’25 finish second in the 5,000-meter race behind Graves ’23 with a time of 18:49.79. The Cards posted an additional three top four finishes as Gabby Harris ’23 finished fourth in the 100-meter race with a time of 12.72, Sarah Schlosberg ’25 finished fourth in the long jump, and Mallory Elliott ’23 finished fourth in the high jump.

Following their stellar individual performances at Amherst, the team then competed in the Silfen Invitational at Connecticut College on Friday, April 15 and Saturday, April 16, where they finished eighth out of the 21 competing teams. The Cards once again had numerous top 10 finishes, with Devanny ’23 finishing fourth in the 100-meter race with a time of 12.26 and second in the 800-meter race with a time of 2:13.11, and Graves ’23 coming in third in the 10,000-meter race with a time of 37:08.61. In addition to the three top five finishes, Burhans ’23 finished eighth in the 100-meter race with a time of 12.51, Addie Thomas ’22 finished ninth in the 800-meter race with a time of 2:20.95, and Velie ’22 finished third in the 1,500-meter race with a time of 4:47.19.

The Cards also had a stellar performance in the 4x100m relay as the team of Devanny ’23, Kenzie Kelly ’25, Burhans ’23, and Schlosberg ’25 finished second with a time of 49.03. In the field events, Claire Edwards ’24 finished third in the discus with a personal best throw of 34.94 meters, and Elliott ’23 took fourth in the high jump with a jump of 1.52 meters, which was also a personal best. Overall, Devanny ’23 is happy with the team’s performance across the past three meets.

“The team had been competing really well, as many people reached all-time and season PRs in the last meet,” Devanny ’23 said. “It’s really exciting seeing all of your teammates succeed right before NESCACs.”

Devanny ’23 added that she admired the team’s ability to stay calm in the face of competition.  

“My teammates and I have been talking about going into races with an open mind and to compete against yourself,” Devanny ’23 said. “Racing relaxed and calm has been helpful for a lot of us to relieve some of the pressure and stress that the end of the season brings.” 

Buhrans ’23 agreed, highlighting team’s mental fortitude as being central to their future success.

“I think the key to success is staying positive and focused,” Burhans ’23 said. “We are probably at peak shape physically, so now it is important to stay mentally strong.”

Next up, the Cards head to Trinity College on Saturday, April 23 for their final meet of the regular season before heading up to Hamilton College the next weekend on Saturday, April 30 for the NESCAC Championships. Burhans ’23 says the key to success heading into these weekends is to be in the best shape possible mentally and physically to compete.

“Heading into the latter part of the season it is key for us to stay healthy,” Burhans ’23 said. “We have been practicing since November 15 and competing since December 10, so our bodies are definitely pretty exhausted. What is important is for us to sleep well, eat well, and take care of ourselves so we can finish out the season strong.”

David Gottlieb can be reached at dgottlieb@wesleyan.edu.