Junior Sarah Wilson broke her own school record and provisionally qualified for the NCAA Championships in the 800-meter run with her time of 2:14.49 today. |
Gray, Wilson provisionally qualify for NCAA's in 400m, 800m
BOSTON, Mass. (February 7, 2014) – The Stonehill College women's track and field team, ranked second in this week's U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association East Regional Computer Rankings, had six NCAA Championship provisional qualifying performances and broke three school records while competing today at the David Hemery Valentine Invitational, hosted by Boston University at the BU Track and Tennis Center.
Junior Maria Curit (Biddeford, Maine/Biddeford) broke the school record she set two weekends ago at the Joe Donahue Games and improved on her provisional qualifying time in the 400-meter dash by placing 13th in 56.07 seconds. Sophomore Jordan Gray (Warwick, R.I./Toll Gate) finished less than a second behind Curit, in 56.21 seconds and also met the provisional qualifying standard for the NCAA Championships with her 14th place finish. Curit competed in the long jump as well, placing 17th out of 75 participants with a distance of 17 feet, 1.25 inches.
Junior Sarah Wilson (West Suffield, Conn./Suffield) broke her own school record as well, and provisionally qualified for the NCAA Championships in the 800-meter run, as she clocked in at 2:14.49 and finished 26th overall. Wilson set the previous mark of 2:15.45 in February of 2012 during the New England Championships, which were held at the same venue as today's meet.
Senior captain Chelsea Bishop (Suffield, Conn./Suffield) placed 31st in the 5000-meter run, earning a time of 17:32.93 to provisionally qualify for the NCAA Championships. Bishop's time is the 12th-fastest in the country to date. Junior Brittany Venturo (Taunton, Mass./Coyle & Cassidy) finished 44th in a personal-best 17:59.95.
Junior Maria Curit improved her provisional qualifying time in the 400-meter dash by placing 13th in 56.07 seconds. |
Stonehill's 4x400 meter relay team of senior Katie Polakowski (Essex Junction, Vt./Essex), sophomore Leanne Kent (North Andover, Mass./Central Catholic), Gray, and Curit placed seventh overall among a field of 53 squads with a time of 3:51.48 to provisionally qualify for the NCAA Championships next month. Polakowski ran the opening leg in 59.8 seconds before handing off to Gray, who posted a split of 56.3 seconds, followed by Kent, who turned in a time of 58.5 seconds, and finally Curit finished the anchor leg in 56.2 seconds. Their time set a school record by less than one second.
Senior captain Elizabeth LaRegina (New Fairfield, Conn./New Fairfield) placed 26th out of 168 competitors in the 1-mile run , turning in a personal-best time of 4:57.91. LaRegina's effort met the provisional qualifying standard for the NCAA Championships, and her time is the 13th-fastest in the country to date. Juniors Brianna Venturo (Taunton, Mass./Coyle & Cassidy) and Emily Anderson (Manchester, Conn./Manchester) competed in the 1-mile run as well, as they placed 51st and 73rd, respectively.
Junior Erin Rielly (Burlington, Mass./Burlington) was Stonehill's top finisher in the 1000-meter run today, as she placed 30th among 84 participants in 3:04.09. Sophomore Molly Hellman (Rumson, N.J./Rumson-Fairhaven Regional) completed the event in 3:08.44, good for 47th place.
Senior captain Angelina Comei (Bradford, Mass./Haverhill) finished 26th in the triple jump after leaping 35 feet, 3 inches, while sophomore Trisha Pierson (East Hanover, N.J./Hanover Park) placed 26th in the shot put with her throw of 36 feet, 9.75 inches.
Stonehill will be back in action next weekend at the Tufts Cupid Challenge, held at the Gantcher Athletic Center in Medford, Mass.
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