NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. (April 14, 2022)- Rebecca Erhard, Kaytlin Encarnacao, Victoria Lombardi, and the members of the 4x400 relay team (Encarnacao, Ashley Warren, Madison Rousseau, and Emma Lawrence) highlighted the Stonehill women's track and field team's third-place finish Thursday at the Merrimack Alumni Classic. 

The Skyhawks finished with a total of 118 points whereas the hosts (Merrimack) won the event with 150 points, with UMass Lowell closely behind (146 points), then Stonehill, and finally Bryant in fourth place (108 points). 

Highlights:

• Erhard competed in the 10,000-meter for the first time in her collegiate career and took home first place at 38:52.48. Not far behind was Isabella Kennedy who set a career-best with a time of 42:06.00 for a fourth-place finish. 
• In the 400-meter, Stonehill took three spots within the top-10 led by Encarnacao's first-place finish at 58.14 seconds. Her time marked a new personal record and is within the top five fastest in the Northeast-10 Conference (fourth). Lawrence ended up in seventh place with a personal best time of 1:00.84 and right behind her was Warren (1:02.03).
• Lombardi was the next Skyhawk to garner first place in her event (3,000-meters) when she crossed the finish line at 10:25.58 which is also top-10 in the NE10 (eighth). Jillian Callahan also partook in this event and notched a fourth-place finish with a time of 10:57.31. 
• Stonehill's 4x400 relay team also took home first place when Lawrence rounded out the race and helped the team finish with a season-high time of 4:05.31.
• During the 100-meter hurdles, the Skyhawks claimed three of the top-10 spots with Madison Rousseau leading the way in second (14.92 seconds), followed by Casey Gannon (fourth-15.25 seconds), and finally Abigail Creamer (sixth-15.79 seconds). 
• Krista Stracqualursi grabbed third-place finishes in both throwing events she competed in. In the shot put, she had a toss of 11.73 meters, and then in the discus, a season-high throw of 36.96 meters. 

Other Performances:

• Madison Gunderway continued her strong outdoor season by setting a new personal best in the hammer throw with a toss of 42.53 meters for third place. Each time she has competed in this event, Gunderway has always finished within the top three. 
• Gannon finished second in the 400-meter hurdles when she crossed the finish line at 1:05.90 and has finished within the top three every time she has competed in the event during the spring. 
• In the 800-meter, the Skyhawks claimed four of the top-10 spots as Claire Mason paced Stonehill with a fourth-place finish at 2:21.29), followed by Meghan Sambrook in seventh with a career-best time of 2:24.70, Jenna French in eighth and a new career-best as well (2:25.02), and finally Elizabeth Marshall rounding out the top-10 at 2:27.09. 
• Javelin saw Isabelle Angelini finish fourth when she threw a new personal best, 37.22 meters. Finishing a couple of spots behind her was Kaley Enright in sixth place with a toss of 32.47 meters. 
• For the long jump, both Haley Lightbody and Cassidy Becker finished fourth and eighth with jumps of 5.21 and 5.06 meters respectively. 

Up Next: 

Stonehill is back in action next Saturday, April 23, when it competes at the Holy Cross Invitational in Worcester. Stonehill will host its 13^th Skyhawk Invitational the following weekend, on Saturday, April 30, at W.B. Mason Stadium, before hosting the Northeast-10 Conference Championships May 6-7.

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