Women's Field Events Shine at Holy Cross Invitational, Skyhawks Finish Third

Ward provisionally qualified for high jump  


Lyons broke Trisha Pierson's '15 previous school record in the discus, as she finished first among 14 competitors (PHOTO BY: Courtney Daggett)

WORCESTER, Massachusetts (April 20, 2019) – The Stonehill College women's track and field team saw three first-place marks at the Holy Cross Invitational on Saturday, hosted by Holy Cross at the Hart Turf Field and Hart Track.

The Skyhawks saw three first-place titles, one NCAA Division II provisional qualifying mark, a new school record, one New England qualifying time, and 35 top-10 marks at the meet.

Madison Ward, who competed in two events at the meet, placed first out of 12 competitors in the high jump clearing a NCAA Division II provisional qualifying mark of 5 feet, 6 inches. She also competed in the triple jump, also taking home a top-10 mark, finishing fifth overall with a distance of 35 feet, 2.5 inches. Sophomore Jessydoris Iwuala rounded out the 10-five with a fifth-place finish and a mark of 5 feet, 2.25 inches in the high jump.

Shayla Lyons who has qualified for the New England Championships in both shot put and discus previously, finished in the top 10 in two of the three events she competed in. Lyons tossed the discus a new school record distance of 138 feet, 8 inches, breaking the previous mark from Trisha Pierson '15 who threw the discus a measurement of 137 feet, 10 inches at the Northeast-10 Conference Championships in 2015. The junior competing in the shot put bypassed the New England Championships mark again in the shot put reaching a mark of 40 feet, 11 inches finishing second out of 13. In her final event of the hammer throw, Lyons was the second Stonehill competitors to take home 14th with a distance of 119 feet, 5 inches.

Freshman Krista Stracqualursi took home two top-10 marks placing third in the discus with a mark of 130 feet, 4 inches as she also competed in the shot put placing 4th overall with a measurement of 38 feet, 5.5 inches.

Sophomore Sophia Anderle was the third first-place finisher with her time of 11:15.57 in the 3000-meter steeplechase. Anderle crossed the finish line 10 seconds ahead of the second place Division I competitor from Holy Cross, as she also bypassed the New England Championship time. Junior Jordan Callahan was the other Skyhawk who competed in the event clocking in a time of 11:40.17, good for fourth.


Anderle was the first across the finish line in the 3000-meter steeplechase, clocking in a New England qualifying mark

Senior Adrienne Santoro was the next best across the finish line for the Skyhawks as they saw Santoro finish third as the first Division II competitor in the 1500-meter event. Santoro clocked in a mark of 4:51.65.

Ashley Colarusso improved her measurement from last week's pole vault competition, as she cleared a height of 11 feet, 1.75 inches as the first Division II competitor at the meet. She placed fifth out of 10 competitors.  

Four Skyhawks took home a top-10 mark in the 100-meter hurdles, leading off with Zoe Smith who clocked in a career-best time of 14.72-seconds. She finished fourth out of 15 competitors. Abigail Creamer was next as she finished second in her heat of the event to clock in a time of 15.79-seconds, good for eighth overall. Classmate Savanna Macaluso followed in ninth place taking ninth in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 15.79-seconds. Colleen Perry rounded out the Stonehill top-10 finishing 10th with a time of 16.05-seconds.

Perry also competed in the long jump, taking home 10th in the event with a distance of 15 feet, 9 inches.

Freshman Siobhan O'Keefe led the Skyhawks in the 5000-meter run taking home fourth out of 11 competitors clocking in a time of 18:45.03. Classmate Rebecca Erhard followed in fifth place with a time of 18:58.68.

Junior Anna Lastra placed fourth in heat one of the 800-meter run clocking in a time of 2:16.16. Alyssa Freeman was next in line as she placed fifth overall with a time of 2:16.59.


O'Brien competed in three events finishing in the top-10 in each, with a personal best time in the 200-meter sprint (PHOTO BY: Mark Connolly)

The Skyhawk quartet of Sinead O'Brien, Smith, Colarusso, and Olivia Dexter placed fifth out of 10 relay team in the 4x100- meter race as the time of 48.40-seconds was the first time for a Division II team. The team of Dexter, Claire Hurtado, Perry, and Fiona Jordan ran a time of 4:05.25 in the 4x400-meter relay with a fifth-place finish out of 10 other teams.

O'Brien finished about one-second in front of her previous 200-meter time with a mark of 25.69-seconds as she placed seventh overall. O'Brien also placed 10th in the 100-meter run with a time of 12.84-seconds as Smith led the way in the event with ninth place and a time of 12.80-seonds.

Hurtado also competed in the 400-meter run finishing as the leader for the Skyhawks clocking in a career best time of 59.86-seconds with a seventh-place finish out of 17.

Stonehill is back in action next Saturday, April 27 when it hosts its annual Skyhawk Invitational at W.B. Mason Stadium, starting at 10:00 a.m.

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