Strong Team Performance Earns Track & Field Second at Reggie Poyau Memorial

WALTHAM, Mass. – Wellesley College track & field registered four first place finishes to kick-off the spring semester in style with a second place performance at the 2016 Reggie Poyau Memorial Invitational at Brandies University.

The Blue recorded 121 points in 17 events to finish just four points shy of the host Judges (125). Fitchburg St. (65) took third place in the team standings, followed by Regis (57), Bentley (56) and Wheelock (21). 

Isabella Narvaez (Cali, Colombia) delivered first place performances in both the 200m Dash and the 400m Dash. The junior recorded a time of 26.63 in the 200m to take the top spot in her heat and in the field of 24 competitors. In addition to Narvaez, sophomore Abena Asare (Berlin, N.J.) gave Wellesley two of the top five times in the 200m, clocking in at 27.86 to take third.

Narvaez was only getting started with her win in the 200m Dash, as she later added a time of 59.24 to win the 400m Dash. The junior was also the only competitor to finish the 400m in under a minute.

Wellesley would go on to add two more first place times and 11 more top-five times before the day was over. Junior Edie Sharon (Winchester, Mass.) captured the 5000m Run with a mark of 19:03.92, finishing 1:16 ahead of the second place time to give Wellesley a third first place time.

Asare delivered the other top mark for the Blue, recording a leap of 1.57m in the High Jump. She was followed in second and third by Priscilla Lee (Anaheim, Calif.), 1.52m, and Josephine Kim (Newport Coast, Calif.), 1.42m, as Wellesley was the only team to compete in the event.

The Blue posted several other top-five results, including a third and fourth place finish from Lee and Kim in the Long Jump, as the duo registered leaps of 4.57m and 4.50m, respectively.

In the 600m Run, senior Caitlin Bailey (Old Forge, N.Y.) took second with a time of 1:43.64, while classmate Sharon Ng (Sunnyvale, Calif.) and junior Sonja Cwik (La Cañada, Calif.) raced to second (5:18.02) and third place (5:26.95) in the 1 Mile Run.

Wellesley continued to shine in the distance events thanks to another sweep of second and third place, this time in the 3000m Run. Junior Mary Keenan (Boerne, Texas) clocked in at 10:36.11 to finish less than four second behind first, while senior Alessandra Gavin (Annapolis, Md.) took third in 10:47.84.

In the 55m Meter Hurdles, senior Jenn Harris (Vestal, N.Y.) took fourth in the finals with a mark of 10.22, after a 10.38 performance in the second heat of the preliminaries.

The Blue team of Cwik, Ng, first year Maeve Monahan (Beverly, Mass.) and Gavin closed out the day with a time of 4:39.98 to take second in a 4 x 400m Relay dual with Brandeis.

Wellesley track & field will look to build on this week's performance next Saturday at Smith College's Beynon Invitational in Northampton, Mass.