Hurry Up and Win
If you attended women's track and field meets this spring, there were two sounds you were certain to hear: the report of the starter's pistol and frustrated officials saying, "We're waiting for Pomerleau!" Cynthia Pomerleau '97, who competed in at least six of the heptathlon's seven events in most meets, would be ripping through the 100-meter hurdles while a schedule-minded shotput official awaited her customary 40-foot throw. The javelin official waited while she blazed through 200 meters. Somehow, Pomerleau also found the time and stamina to launch herself more than 17 feet in the long jump and five feet in the high jump. While officials waited for Pomerleau to arrive, her rivals hoped for a no-show.
"She usually does her best when rushing from event to event," head coach Debbie Aitken said.
"I like the heptathlon because I like to be busy and I like the challenge," Pomerleau said. "If one event goes poorly, there's always another to do well in."
But none of the events went poorly. She finished the outdoor track and field season with All-American honors in the heptathlon, a NESCAC title in the long jump and shotput and a sixth-place national ranking in the heptathlon. Her 4,384 heptathlon point total is only 105 shy of the Colby record held by Debbie MacWalter '91 (see Still Kicking). Pomerleau, who won the ECAC and New England Division III championship in the five-event indoor pentathlon last winter, has only one regret about her junior year of competition--a hamstring strain prevented her from competing on the cross-country team.
The three-sport schedule and all the necessary training leaves little time for anything else but studying, and Pomerleau, a biology major with a concentration in environmental sciences, demands as much of herself in the classroom as she does on the track.
"When I set a personal record in track, Deb always encourages me to do better by saying, `Don't be satisfied with that'" Pomerleau said. "I'm not satisfied with learning the minimum. If I'm not doing well academically, I don't feel good about athletics."