McBride, Veit, 4x800m relay claim individual titles; seven earn All-Conference honors
Kristen Veit earned her first NE-10 championship with the steeplechase title. |
LOWELL, Mass. (May 8, 2011) – Stonehill College, ranked second in this week's U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Division II East Regional index, claimed a fourth-place team finish this weekend at the Northeast-10 Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships hosted by the University of Massachusetts Lowell.
Southern Connecticut State University won their third consecutive conference title with 196 total points, followed by the University of New Haven in second place with 153 points, hosts UMass Lowell in third with 123.5 points, and Stonehill with 117.5 points.
Stonehill captured a pair of event championships on day two of competition, following sophomore Caroline McBride’s (North Reading, Mass./North Reading) 10,000m title on Friday afternoon. Sophomore Kristen Veit (Easthampton, Mass./Holyoke Catholic) ran to the NE-10 championship in the 3000m steeplechase on Saturday, earning her first conference title. Entering the meet as the top seed in the event, Veit covered the course in 11:37.45 to win by eight seconds.
The Skyhawks also won the 4x800m relay title for the third time in four years. Running the event for Stonehill on Saturday were senior Lindsey Booth (Franklin, Mass./Franklin), juniors Maura Ferrarini (Springfield, Mass./Cathedral) and Jill Alves (Whitman, Mass./Whitman-Hanson), and freshman Sarah Biggers (Cortlandt Manor, N.Y./Lakeland) as the Skyhawks took first in 9:45.04, six seconds ahead of hosts UMass Lowell in second place. Booth and Alves are repeat conference champions in the event as members of the 2009 squad that set an NE-10 meet record.
Ferrarini was also an All-Conference finisher in the 1500m run, taking second in 4:48.10. Alves and Biggers finished in the top ten, Alves sixth in 4:58.86 and Biggers on her heels in seventh in 4:59.89, and freshman Chelsea Bishop (Suffield, Conn./Suffield) placed 14th in 5:14.26.
The Skyhawks finished 2-3-4 in the 5000m, led by junior Kristen Mahoney (Weymouth, Mass./Weymouth) with an All-Conference finish in second place in 18:37.27. Senior Amanda Tripodi (Darien, Conn./Darien) took third in 18:41.46, and freshman Emily Regan (Hanson, Mass./Whitman-Hanson) placed fourth in 18:43.86. Sophomore Stephanie Wilson (Wayzata, Minn./Hopkins) also turned in a top-ten finish, placing ninth with a time of 19:17.37.
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Junior Christen Carrier (Manchester, N.H./Manchester Central) placed third in the 800m run in 2:17.81, and also anchored the Skyhawks’ 4x400m relay with senior Danielle Wheeler (Carmel, N.Y./Carmel) and freshmen Katie Polakowski (Essex Junction, Vt./Essex) and Elizabeth LaRegina (New Fairfield, Conn./New Fairfield). The quartet claimed a fourth-place finish in 4:08.63. Stonehill’s 4x100m relay squad also placed fourth overall, as Polakowski, junior Vlada Shelkova (Newington, Conn./Newington), freshman Angelina Comei (Bradford, Mass./Haverhill), and sophomore Olivia Dyson (Reading, Mass./Reading) combined to finish in 50.89 seconds.
Polakowski and Wheeler also competed in the 400m hurdles, led by a fourth-place finish from Polakowski in 1:06.94. The time qualifies her for next weekend’s New England Outdoor Championships at Southern Connecticut. Wheeler finished ninth in 1:11.75, just behind sophomore Sarah Burke (South Yarmouth, Mass/Dennis-Yarmouth) in eighth place with a time of 1:09.87.
In the 100m hurdles, sophomore Katie Bernazzani (Norwood, Mass./Norwood) placed fifth overall in the finals with a time of 15.50 seconds, taking three tenths off her preliminary qualifying time on Friday.
Shelkova placed fourth in Saturday’s triple jump competition, jumping a season-best 35 feet, 3.25 inches, and Comei took seventh at 34 feet, 8.25 inches. Freshman Krista Chauvin (Seekonk, Mass./Seekonk) also turned in a seventh-place finish in the hammer throw, posting a throw of 122 feet, four inches. Dyson took seventh overall in the high jump as she cleared five feet, 0.25 inches.
Three Skyhawks also finished 6-7-8 in the pole vault. Freshman Meaghan Olin (Goshen, N.Y./Goshen) led Stonehill in sixth, clearing eight feet, 10.25 inches. Sophomore Emily Cure (Altamont, N.Y./Guilderland) placed seventh, edging freshman Jorden Campbell (Northwood, N.H./Coe-Brown Northwood Academy) on attempts at eight feet, 4.25 inches.
Stonehill will be back in action next weekend at the New England Outdoor Championships, hosted at Southern Connecticut State University on Friday and Saturday, May 13 and 14. Five Skyhawks have qualified to compete: Mahoney and McBride in both the 5000m and 10,000m, Bernazzani in the 100m hurdles, Polakowski in the 400m hurdles, and Dyson in the javelin. Events will get underway on Friday at 10:00 a.m.