BY JAYMES FAIRFAX-COLOMBO

In print | Published May 1, 2008 — Updated May 21, 2008 00:27

Decades ago, the battlefield at Gettysburg played host to one of the most intense battles of the Civil War. Another battle is set to take place when the Centennial Conference Outdoor Track-and-Field Championships take place, as the Garnet women will look to run roughshod over their competition.

That epic encounter, however, is in the future. For now, let’s take a look back at the past. The Garnet ladies churned out several strong performances last weekend at the University of Pennsylvania’s 115th Annual Penn Relays and at The College of New Jersey’s Lions Invitational.

In a repeat of recent weeks, weather conditions weren’t really ideal for running. The wind was reminiscent of the beginning scenes of the Wizard of Oz — the wicked witch was even heard cackling during the winds strongest moments. The temperatures were also horrible. Nathalie De Gaiffier ’10 and Nyika Corbett ’10 shed some light on the situation. De Gaiffier said, “The weather was really windy and a bit cold.” Corbett agreed to an extent, as she claimed, “It wasn’t cold when I ran, but it was very warm and humid. The backstretch was pretty windy though.”

Despite the relentless wind, Corbett managed to post a PR in the 800. Corbett twice circled the track in a time of 2:22.73. She was joined by teammates Lauren Deluca ’09, Melina Healey ’08 and Faith Pampel ’09. All four women posted Conference qualifying times under 2:39.37.

Bess Ritter ’09 also posted a PR. Ritter completed the 1500 meter race in 5:04.05, well under the Conference standard of 5:19.58. Ritter was joined by Emma Stanley ’09 (5:18.03), Rebecca Woo ’11 (5:25.55) and Bettina Tam ’10 (5:51.72).

Field athletes De Gaiffier and Heather Hightower ’09 also had solid outings. De Gaiffier competed in both the long jump and the 200 meters to close out her rookie collegiate outdoor season. In examining her season, De Gaiffier said, “I think my first outdoor season in college went well and I did a lot better this season than I did in high school. I’m looking forward to Conferences and to next year! Hopefully I’ll be able to add in some hurdles too.”

Hightower proved once again to be a workhorse, competing in the shot, the discus and the javelin and setting PRs in the latter two with respective efforts of 23.63 meters and 18.62 meters.

While the Garnet sent a strong team to represent themselves at the Lions Invitational, one Garnet woman represented the team at the prestigious Penn Relays two nights prior. Cait Mullarkey ’09 ran arguably one of the toughest races of her career, yet rose to the occasion and shattered her school steeplechase record by an amazing eighteen seconds. Her time of 11 minutes and 2 seconds was also an NCAA provisional qualifier by eleven seconds. As Mullarkey is used to being all alone at the front of most steeple races, the Penn Relays marked a stark change in her racing style. She said, “I’ve never run a competitive steeple before. It was a totally different going over the barriers in a pack. There was a lot of pushing and shoving and I got spiked. My knee was bleeding by the end of the race. Running with others pulled me around the track and helped me keep my pace though.”

Additionally, Mullarkey was impressed by the atmosphere of running in the world’s largest and oldest relay carnival, as she said, “The atmosphere of Penn is very cool and energetic; everyone crowds around the water pit and rings cowbells and cheers for the squeegee guy — it’s just really awesome.”

The Garnet will next be in action this weekend at the Centennial Conference Championships hosted by Gettysburg College. One equation: Swarthmore plus competition plus Conference Championship equals intense excitement.

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