Cwik Leads Blue Track & Field At Bowdoin's Aloha Relays

BRUNSWICK, Maine – Junior Sonja Cwik (La Cañada, Calif.) led a 1-2-3 Blue sweep of the 3000m Steeplechase as Wellesley College track & field competed at the 2016 Aloha Relays on Saturday at Bowdoin College. The Blue finished in fifth place in the team standings with 57.5 points. Host Bowdoin won the event with 171 points. 

The Blue earned 24 points in the Steeplechase, sweeping the top-three spots behind Cwik's first place time of 11:17.37. Senior Alessandra Gavin (Annapolis, Md.) and sophomore Taylor Fortnam (Portola Valley, Calif.) followed Cwik. Gavin was second in 11:49.09 and Fortnum was third in 12:07.67. All three runners qualified for the New England Division III Championships with their times, while Cwik and Gavin registered ECAC DIII times. Cwik's first place finish was also an NEICAAA Open New England Championship qualifying cut. 

Cwik was one of two Wellesley runners to hit an NEICAAA mark on Saturday, along with classmate Isabella Narvaez. Narvaez continued to lower her school record time while again registering a qualifying time for all three championship meets in the 200m with a third place time of 25.61. Narvaez also clocked in at 12.91 in the 100m, good for fourth.

First year Cathy Chen (Parsippany, N.J.) also took down her own school record in the 100 Hurdles. Chen ran to an NE DIII qualifying time of 16.59 in the event. In the 400 Hurdles, both Chen and senior Caitlin Bailey (Old Forge, N.Y.) finished in the top five with NE DIII times. Chen took third in 1:06.77 and Bailey took fifth in 1:07.86. Bailey was also eighth in 100 Hurdles in 17.58.

Junior Sara Vannah (Amherst, Mass.) also grabbed points for the Blue, taking fourth in the 5000m in 19:06.99. Classmate Alice Zhou (Sunnyvale, Calif.) took seventh in the event in 19:51.07. Other top-ten performances on the day for the Blue included: Junior Edie Sharon (Winchester, Mass.) taking ninth in the 1500m (5:00.36), sophomore Priscilla Lee (Anaheim, Calif.) taking sixth in the High Jump (1.48m) and tenth in the Long Jump (4.60m), junior Emma Scalisi (Waltham, Mass.) finishing in seventh in the Triple Jump (10.28m), sophomore Isabella King (Cincinnati, Ohio) taking seventh in the Javelin (29.01m) and first year Helen Andersen (Madison, N.J.) taking ninth in the Shot Put (10.28m) and tenth in the Hammer (35.56m).

Wellesley track & field will now take aim at the 2016 NEWMAC Championships, next Saturday, April 30. The U.S. Coast Guard Academy is hosting this year's championships.