Wellesley Track & Field Takes Third at Conn. College

NEW LONDON, Conn. -- The Wellesley College track and field team recorded 12 top-three finishes to take third place at the 2014 Stiffin Invitational, hosted by Connecticut College.

The top-three team finishers at the event were separated by just two points. The Blue recorded 132 points at the eight-school event, narrowly finishing behind host Conn College (134) and Roger Williams (133). 

Wellesley junior Nicole Chui led the way for the Blue individually, winning the 3,000-meter steeplechase. She finished in a time of 12:14.70, leading a group of Blue runners that went 1-2-3 in the event. Sophomore Alessandra Gavin was second in 12:17.60, while first-year Edie Sharon was third in 12:45.36. 

Five other Wellesley runners recorded second place finishes at the event, including sophomore Priyanka Fouda and Caitlin Bailey, and first-years Isabella Narvaez, Alice Zhou, and Susannah Perkins.

Fouda was the top Wellesley finisher in the 1,500, as the Blue had five in the top-five of the event. Fouda ran a 4:53.08, ranking second overall, followed by sophomore Sharon Ng (3rd- 4:56.95), first-year Mary Keenan (5th- 5:00.60), sophomore Carolyn Chelius (7th- 5:10.34), and sophomore Heather Smith (10th- 5:19.46).

Narvaez was Wellesley's top finisher in both the 100-meter dash and the 200-meter dash. In the 100, she ranked second with a 12.73, while in the 200, she was third in 26.40. Other top-10 finishers in the 100, included junior Kendra Waters (5th- 13.14), junior Kathleen Hanlon (8th- 13.39), and senior Sheena Dupuy (9th- 13.50). In the 200, Waters was eighth in 27.67, and Hanlon was 10th in 27.97.

Zhou finished second overall in the 5,000-meter run, recording a 19:24.47. Senior Ali Grzywna followed in third place, with a 19:51.20.  Other runner-up finishes included Perkins in the 100-meter hurdles (18.08) and Bailey in the 400-meter hurdles (1:07.85). 

Rounding out the top track performances was a pair of top-10 finishes in the 800-meter run. Senior Sarah Roundy was sixth in 2:36.94 and first-year Kathryn Leahy was seventh in 2:40.78. 

Wellesley also recorded four top-10 finishes on the field side, which included senior Zoe Sobel, Perkins, first-year Emma Scalisi, and Dupuy. Sobel was third in the shot put (9.46m), while Perkins was fifth in the same event (8.93m). Scalisi was fourth overall in the triple jump (10.06m) and Dupuy was seventh in the long jump (4.67m). 

Wrapping up the competition, Wellesley recorded first and third place finishes in a pair of relays. In the 4x800m event, the Blue were first overall in 10:12.86, just 0.86 seconds off an ECAC qualifying time. In the 4x100m, Wellesley was third overall in 51.31.

In the team standings, after Conn, Roger Williams, and Wellesley, RIC (123) followed in fourth place and Trinity (118) took fifth. CC Rhode Island (33), Mass. Maritime (18), and Sullivan County CC (16) rounded out the field. 

Wellesley is back in action at the 2014 NEWMAC Championships, hosted by Mount Holyoke on Saturday, April 26th.