Polakowski |
Hanlon |
Esernio |
Gray |
Skyhawks earn inaugural weekly award after second place finish on Saturday
EASTON, Mass. (December 4, 2012) – The Stonehill College women's 4x400-meter relay team earned the inaugural Relay of the Week award from the Northeast-10 Conference for its efforts at the season-opening UMass Boston Indoor Invitational at the Reggie Lewis Track & Athletic Center on Saturday.
Running the relay event for Stonehill were junior Katie Polakowski (Essex Junction, Vt./Essex), sophomore Lauren Hanlon (Georgetown, Mass./Georgetown) and freshmen Jeana Esernio (Stony Brook, N.Y./Ward Melville) and Jordan Gray (Warwick, R.I./Toll Gate). The Skyhawks placed second in the event with their time of 4:08.80 – just 0.09-seconds behind winners Tufts University.
Gray ran the lead leg in 59.6-seconds, while Esernio completed the second leg in 63.2-seconds and Polakowski finished the third leg in 62.9-seconds before Hanlon ran the anchor leg in 62.9-seconds. The team finished within seven seconds of the school record for the event, which Hanlon and Polakowski were a part of last season. It marks the first NE-10 weekly award for all four Skyhawks.
Polakowski also earned a spot on the NE-10's weekly honor roll, adding a pair of strong individual performances to her efforts with the 4x400. She won the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 9.58-seconds in the final after qualifying second in 9.65. Polakowski led a Stonehill sweep of the top three spots in the event, with relay teammates Esernio finishing second (9.60) and Hanlon third (9.74). Polakowski also finished sixth in the 200-meter dash in 27.14-seconds.
Gray also added an event win in her collegiate debut by capturing the 400-meter dash in 58.96-seconds.
Joining Polakowski on the NE-10 weekly honor roll on Monday were junior Emily Regan (Hanson, Mass./Whitman-Hanson Regional) for her victory in the 5000-meter run in 18:06.93, as well as sophomore Maria Curit (Biddeford, Mass./Biddeford) who posted a pair of top five finishes in the 500-meter dash (1:19.43/1st) and 200-meter dash (26.92/4th).
Stonehill returns to action on Friday when it competes at the Reggie Poyau Invitational, hosted by Brandeis University, at Gosman Athletic Center in Waltham, Mass., at 5 p.m.
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