Mahoney leads Skyhawks with first-place finish in 3000m event

Kristen Mahoney won the 3000m event to lead Stonehill. (PHOTO BY Richard Orr)

DURHAM, N.H. (January 22, 2011) – The Stonehill College women’s track and field team finished third overall at the University of New Hampshire tri-meet held Saturday at the Paul Sweet Oval in Durham.

Junior Kristen Mahoney (Weymouth, Mass./Weymouth) led the way for Stonehill with a first-place finish in the 3000m run, posting a time of 10:36.94 to cross the line seven seconds ahead of the second-place finisher. Freshman Emily Regan (Hanson, Mass./Whitman-Hanson) finished fourth in the event in 10:47.54, and senior Amanda Tripodi (Darien, Conn./Darien) took sixth in 10:50.37.

Junior Jill Alves (Whitman, Mass./Whitman-Hanson) ran a 5:15.19 to take third in the mile, leading a trio of top-ten finishes for Stonehill as sophomore Kristen Veit (Easthampton, Mass./Holyoke Catholic) placed sixth in 5:26.92 and junior Maura Ferrarini (Springfield, Mass./Cathedral) was right on her heels in seventh with a 5:27.95.

Freshman Katie Polakowski (Essex Junction, Vt./Essex) posted a strong performance in her first meet of the season, placing second in the 55m hurdles final in 8.58 seconds. The Skyhawks also claimed a pair of high finishes from freshmen in the field events as Meaghan Olin (Goshen, N.Y./Goshen) tied for third place in the pole vault at a school-record height of eight feet, 0.5 inches, and Krista Chauvin (Seekonk, Mass./Seekonk) took fourth in the shot put with a throw of 35 feet, 4.5 inches.

Jill Alves placed third in the mile. (PHOTO BY Richard Orr)

Stonehill scored 97.5 total points to finish ahead of Worcester State College. New Hampshire placed first overall with 204.5 points, followed by College of the Holy Cross with 183.5 points.

Other Stonehill highlights include:

Junior Vlada Shelkova (Newington, Conn./Newington) placed fourth in the triple jump at 33 feet, 6.75 inches, and fifth in the long jump at 16 feet, seven inches.

Three Skyhawk runners placed in the top ten in the 1000m run: senior Lindsey Booth (Franklin, Mass./Franklin) took fifth in 3:09.92, freshman Sarah Biggers (Cortlandt Manor, N.Y./Lakeland) placed sixth in 3:20.21, and freshman Elizabeth LaRegina (New Fairfield, Conn./New Fairfield) finished seventh in 3:20.39.

Junior Christen Carrier (Manchester, N.H./Manchester Central), junior Susan O’Connell (East Greenwich, R.I./East Greenwich), Polakowski, and sophomore Sarah Burke (South Yarmouth, Mass/Dennis-Yarmouth) teamed up to take third in the 4x400m relay in 4:18.24.

Freshman Aimee Rideout (Woburn, Mass./Woburn) finished eighth in the 200m dash with a time of 28.29 seconds.

Stonehill returns to action on Friday at the Boston University Terrier Classic, beginning at the BU Track & Tennis Center at 2 p.m.