Sanderson Leads Women's Track and Field at MASCAC Championship

Worcester, MA- The Worcester State Women's Track and Field team travelled to Fitchburg State today to compete in the 2023 MASCAC Outdoor Championship. The Lancers finished 5 at the Championship with top finishes by senior Riley Sanderson (Leominster, MA), who earned MASCAC All-Conference honors with her first place finish in the Javelin, the dominant relay teams, headline by the 4x100 relay team made up of seniors Maureen Grady (Douglas, MA), Heather Turner (Ashland, MA), Elena Pellegrini 9Ashland, MA) and Bridget Maunsell (West Boylston, MA). While Track and Field does not hold the typical senior day events, the team is filled with spectacular senior talent that was on display today in Fitchburg.

The questionable weather led to a slight adjustment in the schedule with a number of field events wrapping up earlier in the day. Sanderson repeated as MASCAC Champion in the javelin with a 38.30m throw to lead the field. Fellow thrower sophomore Arianna Constant (Leomisnter, MA) came in third in the event with a 30.41m mark. Constant also found herself with an additional third place finish in the Hammer after a 32.09m toss. Senior Avonia Herbert (Sharon, MA) added to the field event success with a fourth place finish in the triple jump after measuring 10.66m while junior Eryca Lopes was two spots behind in 6th with a 9.63m leap. The additional pit jumpers of Grady and Hebert joined Lopes in the long jump where they grabbed spots 7-9. Grady recorded a 4.93m, Hebert a 4.87m and Lopes rounded it out with a 4.68 mark. 

The track side had plenty of action today as well as each runner raced not only to finish but get done before the expected weather made the track slick. The 4x100m Relay team finished in strong fashion with a 2nd place time of 50.32. Pellegrini and Grady returned to their track success in the 100m individual race as Pellegrini crossed in 4th with a 12.87 second with Turner hot on her heels finishing two spots below in a time of 13.16 seconds. Not to be forgotten were Turner and Maunsell who returned to the track for 400m where Turner secured another 4th place finish for the Lancers, crossing in a time of 62.34 seconds, three places ahead of Maunsell who crossed in a straight 65 seconds. For the 200m Pellegrini and Maunsell again met on the track with Pellegrini crossing in third in a time of 26.84 seconds while Maunsell came in fifth less then a second behind at 27.32. First year Erin Condon continued her hurdle success, crossing in 2nd in the 400m hurdles in a time of 1:14.18.

On the distance front, first year Leah Berg (Worcester, MA) crossed in 12th place in the 1500m followed three minutes behind by senior Erica Hanlon (Shrewsbury, MA) in 14th. First year Nina Fonteix (Elancourt, FR) had major success in the 800m with a third place time of 2:29.25. Senior Caitlin Conneely (Tewksbury, MA) finished the distance group strong with a 10th place crossing in a time of 21:29.24 o wrap up the individual events on the day. 

The final two events of the day saw the 4x800 and 4x400 relay teams take center stage. The 4x800 team, made up of Berg, Conneely, Hanlon and Fonteix crossed the finish line in 11:33.44 for a 4th place finish while the 4x400 team consisting of Pellegrini, Turner, Condon and Maunsell finished in 3rd in 4:21.51.

The Lancers are back in action next weekend starting May 4th, as those athletes who have qualified compete at the New England DIII Regional Championship in Springfield, MA.