Senior All-American Maria Curit set a school record in the 600-meter run and qualified for the New England Championships in the 600 and the 200-meter dash. |
Senior All-American Maria Curit posts event win and runner-up effort as Skyhawks take team title
MEDFORD, Mass. (January 17, 2015) – The Stonehill College women's track and field team opened its second semester schedule today with a convincing first-place finish among 15 teams at the Tufts University Invitational, held at the Gantcher Athletic Center in Medford, Massachusetts.
Senior All-American Maria Curit (Biddeford, Maine/Biddeford) led the way for Stonehill with an event win in the 600-meter run and a runner-up finish in the 200-meter dash, while junior Jordan Gray (Warwick, Rhode Island/Toll Gate) finished second in the 400-meter dash and fourth in the 200.
Curit, who set a program record in the 600 last February on the same track at the Tufts Cupid Challenge, eclipsed that mark today with a time of 1:35.21. Her effort was good enough to qualify for the New England Championships next month at the Boston University Track & Tennis Center.
Curit also qualified for New Englands in the 200, an event in which Stonehill took four of the top six spots and earned 22 points towards its team score. Curit placed second and clocked in at 25.80 seconds, followed by junior Leanne Kent (North Andover, Massachusetts/Central Catholic), who finished third in 26.06 seconds, and Gray, who placed fourth with a mark of 26.16 seconds. Freshman Emily Polvere (Somers, New York/Somers) added three points to Stonehill's score with her sixth-place finish in 26.76 seconds.
Gray qualified for New Englands in the 400 with her 58.72-second effort, good for second overall, while sophomore Nicole Borofski (Plymouth, Massachusetts/Plymouth North) led a host of Stonehill entries in the 1-mile run with her first-place finish in 5:06.18. The Skyhawks claimed the top three places and six of the top 11 overall in the event.
Junior Jordan Gray qualified for New Englands in the 400-meter dash with her second place finish in 58.72 seconds. |
Stonehill won today's meet, which was made up primarily of Division III programs, with 139.50 total points. The Skyhawks edged DI participant and former Northeast-10 Conference rival the University of Massachusetts Lowell, by 31.5 points. Host Tufts University (74 points), Connecticut College (58 points) and Merrimack College (54.50) rounded out the top five.
Sophomores Aisha McAdams (North Kingstown, Rhode Island/North Kingstown) and Alexandra Buonfiglio (Lynnfield, Massachusetts/Lynnfield) were right behind Borofski, placing second and third, respectively, with times of 5:09.42 and 5:13.90. Senior Erin Rielly (Burlington, Massachusetts/Burlington) chipped in a point with her eighth-place finish in 5:23.69, while freshmen Julie Schultz (Billerica, Massachusetts/Billerica) and junior Molly Hellman (Rumson, New Jersey/Rumson-Fairhaven Regional) crossed the finish line tenth and 11th, respectively.
Junior Trisha Pierson (East Hanover, New Jersey/Hanover Park) turned in Stonehill's third individual event win of the meet in the shot put with a toss of 40 feet, 1.5 inches, and freshman Gaelin Farrell (Baldwinville, Massachusetts/Narragansett Regional) took third with a throw of 39 feet.
Stonehill received strong performances from its relay teams, with the 4x200 meter relay placing first and setting a new program record with a time of 1:47.52, while the two Skyhawk 4x800 meter relay entries captured first and second place with times of 9:38.55 and 9:52.54.
Junior Jeana Esernio (Stony Brook, New York/Ward Melville) led three Stonehill entries in the 60-meter hurdles, posting a time of 9.40 seconds in the prelims before bettering her mark with a time of 9.35 seconds in the finals, good for second overall. Freshman Azariah Boyd (Brockton, Massachusetts/Brockton) finished sixth in the finals in 9.81 seconds after qualifying with a 9.63 second effort in the prelims, while classmate Phoebe Fitzgibbon (Westwood, Massachusetts/Westwood) posted a time of 9.97 seconds in the prelims to place 11th. Fitzgibbon also competed in the high jump, earning an eighth place finish after clearing four feet, 11.8 inches.
Junior Trisha Pierson won the shot put with a toss of 40 feet, 1.5 inches. |
Juniors Stephanie Fitzgerald (Coventry, Rhode Island/Coventry) and Erin Carberry (Milton, Massachusetts/Thayer Academy) and freshman Alison Tobin (Hudson, Massachusetts/Hudson) all registered top-four performances in their individual events. Fitzgerald placed second in the triple jump with a distance of 34 feet, 8.5 inches, Tobin finished third in the pole vault with a height of ten feet, and Carberry earned fourth in the 1000-meter run with a time of 3:07.25.
Freshman Emily Knox (Worcester, Massachusetts/Notre Dame Academy) and senior Brianna Venturo (Taunton, Massachusetts/Coyle & Cassidy) finished less than five seconds apart in the 3000-meter run, with Knox placing seventh in 10:37.0 and Venturo taking eighth in 10:41.71.
Freshman Madison McGlone (Bellmore, New York/John F. Kennedy) earned a sixth-place finish in the 800-meter run, clocking in at 2:33.84, and classmate Erin Colford (Epping, New Hampshire/St. Thomas Aquinas) placed 12th in 2:37.11.
Junior Jenn Tenczar (Chicopee, Massachusetts/Chicopee) posted a personal best in the weight throw, placing seventh with a toss of 41 feet, six inches. Sophomore Maggie Lepley (Lynn, Massachusetts/Bishop Fenwick) and freshman Julianne Holbrook (Pembroke, Massachusetts/Pembroke) also competed in the event, finishing 9th and tenth, respectively.
Senior Christina Russo (Winthrop, Massachusetts/Winthrop) tied for 17th in the 60-meter dash prelims with a time of 8.36 seconds, while also posting a 21st place effort in the 200-meter dash in 28.17. Esernio, Boyd, and freshman Victoria Sheridan (Great Meadows, New Jersey/Pope John XXIII) joined Russo in the 200, placing 15th, 24th, and 29th, respectively.
Stonehill will be back in action next Saturday at the URI Sorlien Invitational, hosted by the University of Rhode Island at the Mackal Fieldhouse in Kingston, Rhode Island.
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