Junior Leanne Kent ran the second leg of Stonehill's 4x400-meter relay that placed second and provisionally qualified for the NCAA Championships with a time of 3:35.61.

4x400-meter relay finishes second and provisionally qualifies for NCAAs with time of 3:53.61

KINGSTON, R.I. (February 7, 2015) – The Stonehill College women's track & field team, ranked No. 12 in this week's U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) NCAA Division II National Computer Rankings, placed fifth and posted two NCAA Championship provisional qualifying efforts today at the URI Coaches Tribute Meet, hosted by the University of Rhode Island at Mackal Fieldhouse.

Stonehill's 4x400-meter relay team of senior All-American Maria Curit (Biddeford, Maine/Biddeford) and juniors Jordan Gray (Warwick, Rhode Island/Toll Gate), Leanne Kent (North Andover, Massachusetts/Central Catholic), and Jeana Esernio (Stony Brook, New York/Ward Melville) placed second with a time of 3:53.61. Gray ran the opening leg in 57.6 seconds, followed by Kent in 58.7 seconds and Esernio in 60.5 seconds, before Curit completed the anchor leg in 56.8 seconds. The effort, which currently ranks 22^nd nationally, was good enough to meet the provisional qualifying standard for next month's NCAA Championships.

Curit also won the 500-meter run, clocking in at 1:15.67, and placed second in the long jump with a distance of 18 feet, one inch.

Sophomore Nicole Borofski (Plymouth, Massachusetts/Plymouth North) posted an NCAA provisional qualifying effort in the 1-mile run, placing second and earning a time of 5:01.00, which currently ranks 18^th in NCAA DII. Classmate Alexandra Buonfiglio (Lynnfield, Massachusetts/Lynnfield) also competed, finishing 11^th in 5:16.00, while sophomore Alexandra Grimaldo (Marlborough, Massachusetts/Marlborough) and freshman Julie Schultz (Billerica, Massachusetts/Billerica) placed 19^th and 21^st, respectively.

Competing in a field of ten that consisted of eight Division I programs, Stonehill placed fifth today with 59.50 points. Host URI won the meet with 134 points, followed by Brown University (114 points) and Providence College (96 points). Fellow Northeast-10 Conference member American International College finished ninth with 29 points.

Esernio posted a time of 9.13 seconds in the 60-meter hurdles finals, good for sixth overall, after qualifying with a 9.25-second effort in the prelims. Freshman Azariah Boyd (Brockton, Massachusetts/Brockton) finished 11^th in the prelims in 9.45 seconds, while classmate Phoebe Fitzgibbon (Westwood, Massachusetts/Westwood) and senior Lauren Hanlon (Georgetown, Massachusetts/Georgetown) placed 16^th and 20^th, respectively.

Kent led three Skyhawks in the 400-meter dash, placing fourth in 59.84 seconds, while freshman Emily Polvere (Somers, New York/Somers) and Victoria Sheridan (Great Meadows, New Jersey/Pope John XXIII) finished ninth and tenth, respectively, turning in times of 1:02.35 and 1:02.76.

Junior Erin Carberry placed seventh in the 1000-meter run with a time of 3:05.42.

Kent and Curit finished ninth and tenth, respectively, in the 60-meter dash prelims with times of 8.05 and 8.06 seconds, but the duo narrowly missed qualifying for the finals. Sophomore Tulie Finley-Moise (Lexington, Massachusetts/Lexington) followed in 17^th, while also leading five Stonehill entries in the 200-meter dash, as she placed 14^th in 27.19 seconds.

Sophomore Aisha McAdams (North Kingstown, Rhode Island/North Kingstown) turned in a time of 10:12.21 in the 3000-meter run, good for fifth overall. Senior Sarah Wilson (West Suffield, Connecticut/Suffield) placed sixth in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:21.82, while Gray finished sixth in the 500-meter run, clocking in at 1:17.67.

Junior Trisha Pierson (East Hanover, New Jersey/Hanover Park) and freshman Gaelin Farrell (Baldwinville, Massachusetts/Narragansett Regional) placed seventh and tenth, respectively, in the shot put with throws of 39 feet, 9.25 inches, and 38 feet, 1.25 inches.

Junior Erin Carberry (Milton, Massachusetts/Thayer Academy) was Stonehill's lone entry in the 1000-meter run, as she placed seventh and posted a time of 3:05.42.

Junior Stephanie Fitzgerald (Coventry, Rhode Island/Coventry) finished tenth in the triple jump with a distance of 33 feet, ten inches, while Fitzgibbon cleared four feet, 11 inches in the high jump to tie for 11^th. Freshman Alison Tobin (Hudson, Massachusetts/Hudson) tied for fifth in the pole vault after clearing nine feet, ten inches.

Junior Jenn Tenczar (Chicopee, Massachusetts/Chicopee) and sophomore Maggie Lepley (Lynn, Massachusetts/Bishop Fenwick) placed 16^th and 18^th, respectively, in the weight throw with distances of 40 feet, 2.25 inches, and 39 feet, 7.25 inches.

Stonehill will be back in action next Friday at the David Hemery Valentine Invitational, hosted by Boston University at the BU Track & Tennis Center in Boston, Massachusetts.

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