Strong Sprints Lead Women's Track To First Place Finish at Silfen Invitational

New London, CT --- Freshman Briana Wise (Worcester, MA/Burncoat) along with sophomore teammates Leah Walczak (Whitinsville, MA) and Mercedes Arnold (Mira Loma, CA) all took home top finishes as they helped lead Worcester State to a first place finish at the Silfen Invitational hosted by Connecticut College.

The Lancers tallied 158 points for their second triumph in as many weeks followed by the host Camels (113), UMass Dartmouth (91) and Roger Williams (88). Last week WSC won the Corsair Classic at UMass Dartmouth.

Wise qualified for the Division III New Englands in the 100 (12.97) and the 200 (26.69) in her return for the track before Walczak laid down a 1:00.47 in the 400. Arnold also caulked up strong distances in the long jump (5.32 meters) and the triple jump (10.73 m) for the Lancers. Arnold’s long jump leap was .01 meters away from stamping her ticket to the All-New England’s and Arnold also clocked sixth in the 200 (27.66).

First-year Rose Mathieu (Somerville, MA) placed second overall in the 100 (12.98) and long jump (5.02 m) while she added eighth in the 200 (27.87) as sophomore Nikki Lemelin (Beverly, MA) notched second in the 200 (27.02) and fourth in the 100 (13.06).

Freshman teammates Natalie Marchi (Northbridge, MA) and Alicia Ryan (Townsend, MA) rounded out the group as they finished fifth and eighth in the 200 (27.02) and 400 (1:03.31), respectively. Marchi also took fifth in the 400 meter hurdles with a time of 1:11.56.

Sophomore Maura Witington (West Palm Beach, FL) also eclipsed her own record she set two weeks ago in the 3,000 steeplechase (12:45.45) as she beat the mark by .35 of a second. First-year Brittany Grueter (Foxboro, MA) also added third in the 5,000 (19:56.64) and 12th in the 800 (2:40.63) while classmate Erin Donohue (Saugus, MA) tallied sixth in the 1,500 (5:19.60) and second-year Meg Plant (Franklin, MA) placed ninth in the same event (5:21.99).

Junior Andrea Ouellette (Salisbury, MA) had a solid day to lead the field events as she chipped in with second in the triple jump (10.71 m), fourth in the 100 meter hurdles (16.71) and sixth in the long jump (4.65 m). Junior Christina Bisbee (Attleboro, MA) recorded third in the hammer (35.31 m) as first-year Kristen Brunelle (Dracut, MA) placed fourth in the shot put (19.35 m) and sixth in the discus (28.01 m).

Freshman Cathy Chude (Marlboro, MA) had a great all-around day as she finished third in the 100 meter hurdles (16.65), fifth in the shot put (9.96 m), and ninth in the discus (23.53 m). Classmate Kayle McElroy (Rutland, MA) launched third in the javelin throw with a distance of 30 meters.

The lone relay team to compete was the 4x800 meter team of Plant and Withington along with sophomore Kacy Gillis (Mansfield, MA) and first-year Nicole Beaudreau (S. Windsor, CT) who clocked third (10:57.82).

Next week Worcester State heads back to UMass Dartmouth as they participate in the MASCAC/New England Alliance Championships.

Results