Women's Field Events Finish Strong at Beantown Challenge

Colarusso matches school record in pole vault, Ward reaches NCAA provisional mark in high jump

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (January 14, 2017) - The Stonehill College women's track and field team opened its second semester schedule with the Beantown Challenge, held at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts Saturday, January 14 at Gordon Indoor Track. 

Competing in a field of nine that consisted of eight Division I programs, Stonehill placed ninth today with 58 points. Rhode Island won the meet with 233 points, followed by host Harvard with 218 and UMass Lowell with 190 points.

Freshman Madison Ward (Holliston, Mass./Holliston) led the performances for the Skyhawks with a five foot, five inch high jump, reaching NCAA's provisional mark. Ward also hit 34 feet, 7.75 inches in the triple jump for an eighth place mark.

Freshman Ashley Colarusso (Tewksbury, Mass./Tewksbury) reached 10 feet, six inches in the pole vault event, matching Stonehill's record. 7.75 inches in the triple jump placing eighth. 

Megan Bobinski (Torrington, Conn./Holy Cross) finished fifth in the 500-meter dash with a personal best time (1:20.46), as freshman Claire Hurtado (Newington, Conn./Northwest Catholic) clocked in a 1:22.91 for a 10th-place mark. 

Olivia Dexter (East Calais, Vt./Union 32) led the Skyhawks in the 200-meter run with a fifth-place tally with a time of 25.56. 

Freshman Anna Lastra (Bridgton, Maine/Fryeburg Academy) opened up her first track and field competition with an eighth-place mark in the mile run, clocking in at 5:10.95. 

Emily Knox (Worcester, Mass./Notre Dame Academy), Makenzie Cyr (Douglas, Mass./Douglas), and Jackie Cutillo (Foxboro, Mass./Bishop Feehan) made the top-10 in the 3000-meter run. Knox finished the race in a personal best time of 10:25.10 for a 6th-place mark. Cyr and Cutillo fell eighth and 10th, respectively with times of 10:29.95 and 10:39.72.

Freshman Shayla Lyons (Westerlo, N.Y./Bishop Maginn/Berne-Knox Westerlo) was the only Skyhawk to make the top-10 in the shot put with a distance of 41 feet and 3.75 inches, earning sixth.  

Other Stonehill Performances:

Tulie Finley-Moise (Lexington, Mass./Lexington) placed 17th in the 200-meter dash with a time of 26.74, as Emily Polvere (Somers, N.Y./Somers) clocked in at 26.88 for 20th place.  

Krista Fernandes (Taunton, Mass./Coyle & Cassidy) tallied an eighth-place mark in the 400-meter run crossing the finish at 1:00.31.

Elizabeth Hannon (Franklin, Mass./Bishop Feehan) and Danika Wayys (Warwick, R.I./Pilgrim) recorded 15th and 17th, respectively in the mile run registering times of 5:19.35 and 5:20.35, respectively.

Freshman Zoe Smith (Rochester, Mass./Old Rochester Regional) finished 17th among 60-meter hurdlers with a time of 9.47.

Stonehill's 4x880 yard relay finished sixth with a time of 9:59.31. The squad was made up of Hannon, Bobinski, Lastra, and Wayys. 

Gaelin Farrell (Baldwinville, Mass./Narragansett Regional) and Jesica Litwa (Seymour, Mass./Seymour) recorded 11th and 15th place, respectively, in shot put, with distances of 38 feet, 9.75 inches and 34 feet, 2.25 inches. 

Senior Margaret Lepley (Lynn, Mass./Bishop Fenwick) finished 14th among the weight throw field with a throw of 42 feet and 10.75 inches, as Litwa threw 37 feet and eight inches for 18th place. 

Stonehill is back in action next Friday when it competes at the Joe Donahue Invitational at the Reggie Lewis Track & Athletic Center in Boston, Massachusetts, hosted by Northeastern University at 4:00 p.m. 

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