Stonehill Places Third at Skyhawk Invitational

Freshman Erin Carmone ran a leg of Stonehill's winning 4x800 relay team.

4x800-meter relay posts first place finish,
Skyhawks notch three school-records in home meet

EASTON, Mass. (April 23, 2010) – The Stonehill College women’s outdoor track and field team posted a third-place finish at its home Skyhawk Invitational on a record-setting evening at W.B. Mason Stadium. The University of Rhode Island won the event with 191 points, followed by second-place Boston University with 146, Stonehill with 133, Boston College in fourth (112), Northeastern University in fifth (51) and Bentley University in sixth (34).

Stonehill won the 4x800-meter relay in a head-to-head clash with Rhode Island, finishing with a time of 9:58.31. Running for the Skyhawks were junior Lindsey Booth (Franklin, Mass./Franklin) and freshmen Alexis Monahan (Swoyersville, Pa./Holy Redeemer), Erin Carmone (Riverside, R.I./East Providence) and Kristen Veit (Easthampton, Mass./Holyoke Catholic).

Freshman Olivia Dyson (Reading, Mass./Reading Memorial) finished second in the javelin with a school-record throw of 126’02”. She broke her own previous record of 125’5” set at the Bryant Invitational earlier this season. Dyson also placed fourth in the high jump with a height of 5’01.00” and finished seventh in the 100-meter dash with a time of 13.01-seconds.

Freshman Kathryn Bernazzani (Norwood, Mass./Norwood) finished fourth in the 100-meter hurdles in a school-record time of 15.54-seconds. She broke the previous school mark of 15.76, set by Katrina Harkins at the New England Championships on May 9, 2008. Bernazzani also finished fourth in the triple jump with a distance of 33’03.25”.

Freshman Olivia Dyson set the school record in the javelin to start a strong day at the meet.

Stonehill placed second in both the 4x100-meter and 4x400-meter relays. The Skyhawks finished the 4x100 in 51.22, while the 4x400 turned in a school-record time of 3:58.11. The 4x400 relay team, consisting of senior Kathryn O’Leary (Rensselaer, N.Y./Columbia), junior Danielle Wheeler (Carmel, N.Y./Carmel) and sophomores Jill Alves (Whitman, Mass./Whitman-Hanson) and Christen Carrier (Manchester, N.H./Manchester Central) broke their own previous record of 4:02.77 set two weeks ago at UMass Lowell’s George Davis Invitational. Their time, as well as URI’s winning time of 3:57.12, was under the facility and event record of 3:59.49 set by Boston College in 2009.

O’Leary also broke her own school record for the 400-meter hurdles with her time of 1:04.79 to place second in the event. She edged her previous best of 1:04.83 set last weekend at the Larry Ellis Invitational at Princeton University, breaking the record for the second time this season.

Alves led five Skyhawks in the 1500-meter run with a time of 4:45.77 to place third overall. Carmone was fourth in 4:47.81, while freshman Lynley Joynt (Guilderland, N.Y./Guilderland) rounded out the top five with her time of 4:49.89.

Carrier placed fifth in the 400-meter dash in 59.50-seconds.

Other highlights for Stonehill include:

Sophomore Erica Insel (Clinton, N.J./Voorhees) placed second for the shot put with her throw of 35’06.50”. She also finished fifth in the javelin with a distance of 114’01”.

Senior Meghan Rocha (Nashua, N.H./Bishop Guertin) placed fourth for the discus with her throw of 118’08”. She also finished seventh in the hammer throw with a distance of 127’04”.

Freshman Stephanie Wilson (Wayzata, Minn./Hopkins) led a strong Stonehill showing in the 5000-meter run with her second place finish in 18:22.31. Sophomore Kristen Mahoney (Weymouth, Mass./Weymouth) placed fourth with a time of 18:27.94, while freshman Caroline McBride (North Reading, Mass./Seekonk) was sixth in 18:34.20 and classmate Jessica Jarrard (Shrewsbury, Mass./Hudson Catholic) took seventh in 18:35.25.

Sophomore Vlada Shelkova (Newington, Conn./Newington) placed fourth in the long jump a distance of 16’03.75 inches.

Stonehill is back in action on Sunday, when it participates in the Brown University Springtime Invitational, in Providence, all day. Stonehill will also host the 2010 Northeast-10 Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships at W.B. Mason Stadium next Saturday, May 1, starting at 9 a.m.