Alves, Curit, Wilson and Ferrarini provisionally qualify for NCAA Championships

Jill Alves	Maria Curit
Sarah Wilson	Maura Ferrarini

BOSTON, Mass. (February 11, 2012) – The Stonehill College women's indoor track and field team closed out day two of the Boston University (BU) Valentine Invitational, hosted at the BU Track & Tennis Center, on Saturday afternoon with a school record and NCAA Division II National Championships provisional qualifying performance in the distance medley relay.

Senior Jill Alves (Whitman, Mass./Whitman-Hanson), freshman Maria Curit (Biddeford, Maine/Biddeford), classmate Sarah Wilson (West Suffield, Conn./Suffield) and senior Maura Ferrarini (Springfield, Mass./Cathedral) posted a program-record time of 12:03.47 to place eighth overall in the event and provisionally qualify for the NCAA National Championships.

Alves opened with a 3:42 split in the 1,200-meter leg, followed by Curit with a time of 59.0 seconds in the 400-meter second leg, a 2:15 split from Wilson in the 800-meter third leg and a 5:06 split in the 1,600-meter anchor leg by Ferrarini. Stonehill's total time of 12:03.47 currently ranks eighth nationally among NCAA Division II programs.

The Skyhawks shattered the previous record of 12:17.17, set at the New England Championships on February 25, 2011 by Kristen Veit (Easthampton, Mass./Holyoke Catholic), Susan O'Connell (East Greenwich, R.I./East Greenwich), Lindsey Booth (Franklin, Mass./Franklin) and Ferrarini.

On day one of the BU Valentine Invitational, Curit headlined Stonehill's efforts posting a time of 57.46 in the 400 meter run breaking Jackie Burbank's mark of 59.03 set at Boston University on February 14, 2004. Curit, who currently ranks 18th nationally in the 400 meter run, is the first female-student athlete for Stonehill's indoor track and field team to provisionally qualify for the NCAA National Championships since Dana DeIngenis (Cranston, R.I.) placed fifth overall at the 2007 New England Championships with a time of 4:58.35 in the one mile run.

Junior Katie Bernazzani (Norwood, Mass./Norwood) broke her own school record in the 60 meter hurdles with a time of 9.26 in her preliminary heat. Bernazzani, who did not advance to the finals, eclipsed her own mark of 9.35 set on February 26, 2011 at the New England Championships at BU.

In the 5,000 meter run, senior Kristen Mahoney (Weymouth, Mass./Weymouth) and junior Caroline McBride (North Reading, Mass./North Reading) both hit the New England Championships automatic qualifying standard with career-best times. Mahoney placed 21st overall in 17:43.25 while McBride ran a time of 17:54.25.

Stonehill returns to action on Saturday, February 18 at the Northeast-10 Conference (NE-10) Championships in Boston, Mass. at the Reggie Lewis Track & Athletic Center at 4 p.m.

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