Blue Track and Field Opens Season with Strong Showing at UMass Boston Invite

Blue Track and Field Opens Season with Strong Showing at UMass Boston Invite

ROXBURY, Mass. — Wellesley College track and field kicked-off the 2014-15 season on Saturday, setting a pair of school records and earning multiple top-ten finishes, at the 3rd Annual UMAss Boston Invitational at the Reggie Lewis Center.

Senior Kathleen Hanlon opened the day with a school record performance in the 60-meter dash with a time of 8.39. Hanlon's preliminary time ranked her 25th out of the 92 entrants in the event. Hanlon's time will also qualify her for both the ECAC and New England Division III Championships.

In the high jump, first years Priscilla Lee and Abena Asare made Wellesley history as the established the school record with dual marks of 1.55m. Both will receive New England Division III invitations thanks to their performances. 

The Blue dominated the 5000-meter run, sweeping the top-three places and taking four of the top six. Junior Priyanka Fouda won the event with a time of 18:18.80. Senior Taylor Bickford came in second at 18:29.51 and senior Nicole Chui finished third at 18:34.47. Sophomore Alice Zhou finished sixth with a time of 19:32.57. Fouda, Bickford and Chui all earned New England Division III and ECAC Invites thanks to their times. Fouda will also be invited to the NEICAA Championships. 

Senior Kendra Waters grabbed a top-ten finish in the 500-meter dash for the second year in-a-row. Waters recorded a time of 1:21:25, the fifth fastest mark of the Division III entrants in the field. 

The Blue secured three top-ten finished in the mile with junior Sharon Ng finishing fifth at 5:20.57, senior Alexandra Dunn taking eighth at 5:22.87 and first year Isabella King grabbing the tenth spot with a time of 5:30.59.

First year Taylor Fortnam and sophomore Edie Sharon brought home two more top-ten finishes for the Blue, finishing 4th and 5th in the 3000-meter run. Fortnum recorded a time of 11:01.92, while Sharon crossed the finish at 11:07.90.

Waters, Hanolon, Allison Kiley and Isabella Narvaez grabbed another top-ten finish for the Blue in the 4X400-meter relay. The Blue finished with a time of 4:18.26 in the event. 

Blue track and field will continue the 2014-15 season in January, beginning with a dual meet at Tufts beginning at 10:30 AM on Saturday the 17th.