Skyhawks see seven personal bests at first meet of the outdoor season
LOWELL, Mass. (March 31, 2018) – The Stonehill College women's track and field team opened up their outdoor season with the River Hawk Invitational, hosted by UMass Lowell on Saturday.
Five discus throwers performed at the opening outdoor meet of the season. Sophomore Shayla Lyons (Westerlo, New York/Bishop Maginn/Berne-Knox Westerlo) led the Skyhawks with a fourth-place mark tossing the discus a distance of 118 feet, 6 inches, while classmate Jesica Litwa (Seymour, Massachusetts/Seymour) was the next Purple and White to place with a seventh-place tally and a mark of 114 feet, 1 inch. Sophomore Elizabeth Balzarini (Dedham, Massachusetts/Dedham) also placed in the top 10 with her ninth-place finish and a mark of 108 feet. Senior Gaelin Farrell (Baldwinville, Massachusetts/Narragansett Regional) also threw the discus with a personal best mark of 98 feet, good for 12th, while classmate Julianne Holbrook (Pembroke, Massachusetts/Pembroke) followed in 13th with a toss of 97 feet, 7 inches.
Two throwers placed in the top 10 of the shot put including senior Farrell threw the shot put a mark of 38 feet, 7 inches, good for seventh. Balzarini threw three feet short of Farrell's mark taking home ninth with a distance of 35 feet, 3.25 inches.
Litwa, Lyons, and Holbrook also placed in the top-10 in the hammer throw. Litwa hit a mark of 124 feet, 6 inches for fifth place, as Lyons hit a personal best mark of 122 feet, 10 inches for sixth place and Holbook finished behind her with a throw of 122 feet, 8 inches.
Sophomore Claire Hurtado (Newington, Connecticut/Northwest Catholic) and junior Colleen Perry (Weymouth, Massachusetts/Weymouth) competed in the 800-meter finishing fifth and eighth, respectively. Hurtado clocked in at a personal best time of 2:24.74, as Perry crossed the finish line with a personal best time of 2:30.71.
Jenna Raffael (North Reading, Massachusetts/North Reading) and Perry competed in the 100-meter hurdles finishing fourth and fifth, respectively. Raffael finished with a personal best time of 16.98 and Perry clocked in at 17.20.
Raffael also threw the javelin with a personal best distance of 87 feet, 6 inches.
Sophomore Sinead O'Brien (Norwood, Massachusetts/Norwood) took home seventh in the 100-meter sprint with a time of 13.00, while she also finished eighth in the 200-meter run with a time of 27.57.
In the 1500-meter run, three Skyhawks placed including Kacie Higgins (Weymouth, Massachusetts/Weymouth), Danika Wayss (Warwick, Rhode Island/Pilgrim), and Anna DeVitto (Pembroke, Massachusetts/Pembroke). Higgins finished with a personal best time of 5:05.39, good for 13th, Wayss clocked in at 5:05.97, good for 14th, and Devitto followed in 15th in 5:06.67.
Stonehill will send athletes to the 53rd Colonial Relays in Williamsburg, Virginia from Friday, April 6-7, hosted by the College of William & Mary.
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