Blue Track & Field Takes Third at Two-Day Silfen Invitational

NEW LONDON, Conn. – Wellesley College track & field wrapped up competition at Connecticut College's two-day Silfen Invitational on Saturday afternoon. The Blue totaled 88 points to finish in third place in the overall team standings.

Tufts University took the women's team title with a score of 143.5 points. The Jumbos were followed in second by Division II Assumption College's 95 points. The Blue (88 points), host Conn. College (83 points) and Rhode Island College (67.5 points) rounded out the top-five.

The Blue were well represented in the Elite Distance portion of the meet on Friday evening, notably in the 5000m where junior Mary Keenan (Boerne, Texas) finished fourth in a personal record time of 17:05.65 and senior Priyanka Fouda (Wellesley, Mass.) took ninth in 17:42.35. Both Kennan and Fouda registered DIII New England, ECAC DIII and NEICAAA Championship qualifying times with their top-ten times. Keenan's time also jumped her into the top-ten in the NCAA in the event as of Friday evening.

Senior Sharon Ng (Sunnyvale, Calif.) was the sixth place finisher in the 1500m, grabbing a qualifying time for both the DIII NE and ECAC Championships with her time of 4:43.20. Junior Sonja Cwik (La Canada, Calif.) took 13th in the event with a time of 4:52.04, scoring the Blue a pair of points in the team standings.

Also competing on Friday evening, Edie Sharon (Winchester, Mass.) continued her rise in the grueling 3000m Steeplechase, running to a personal record time of 11:45.05. The junior's personal record time also hit a qualifying mark for the DIII NE and ECAC Championships.

On Saturday, the Blue took down school records in the 100m and 200m, as well as the 100m Hurdles and in the Javelin. 

A school and personal record time of 12.50 seconds in the fifth heat of the 100m Dash earned sophomore Abena Asare (Berlin, N.J.) a qualifying spot in the event at the DIII New England, ECAC DIII and NEICAAA Championships. Asare's day continued in the Long Jump, where a first place leap of 5.69m (18' 8") helped propel her into the top-five in all of NCAA Division III in the event. Asare, who currently ranks fourth nationally in the Long Jump, also hit a qualifying mark for the DIII New England, ECAC DIII and NEICAAA Championship. 

Junior Isabella Narvaez (Cali, Colombia) turned in another fantastic performance in the 200m and the 400m. In the 200m, Narvaez took down her own school record with a third place and DIII NE and ECAC qualifying time of 25.64. She then took runner-up in the 400m, also qualifying for the DIII NE and ECAC Championships, with a time of 58.11.

In hurdles, first year Cathy Chen (Parsipanny, N.J.) broke her own school record in the 100m event and qualified for the DIII NE Championships in the 400m event. Chen clocked in at 16.69, first in her heat and fifth overall, in the 100m and at 1:08.63, first overall, in the 400m event.

The final school record of the day belonged to sophomore Isabella King (Cincinnati, Ohio) as she improved on her own mark in the Javelin with a top-ten toss of 31.13m.

Other top-five finishes for the Blue included: senior Caitlin Bailey's (Old Forge, N.Y.) fourth place (1:10.67) finish in the 400m Hurdles and the Blue's 4 x 100m Relay team of Priscilla Lee (Anaheim, Calif.), Asare, Chen and Narvaez taking fourth in the 51.41. For Lee, the event capped a solid day that also included a DIII NE qualifying leap of 1.53m in the High Jump. 

Wellesley continues the outdoor season next Saturday, April 23, at Bowdoin College's Aloha Relays. In addition, select distance runners will take part in the Larry Ellis Invitational at Princeton University on Friday evening, April 22.