Blue Track & Field Opens Outdoor Season Strong at Regis Spring Classic

WESTON, Mass. – Wellesley College track & field totaled six first-place finishes and three runner-up performances in a dominant all-around team performance at the outdoor season-opening Regis Spring Classic. There was no team scoring at the meet.

The Blue swept every track event from the 400m to the 5000m, led by two first-place performances from junior Taylor Fortnam (Portola Valley, Calif.) in the 800m (2:30.83) and the 1500m (5:03.78). Seniors Isabella Narvaez (Cali, Colombia) and Alice Zhou (Sunnyvale, Calif.) earned wins in the 400m (59.69) and the 5000m (18:41.21), respectively, while first year Sarah Halabe (Los Altos, Calif.) tallied her first career collegiate race victory with a time of 12:14.01 in the 3000m. 

Wellesley's sixth first-place finish came in the Long Jump, where senior Emma Scalisi (Waltham, Mass.) was first with a leap of 4.66m. Scalisi was also third in the triple jump with a mark of 10.06m. Junior Priscilla Lee (Anaheim, Calif.) joined Scalisi in the Long Jump, finishing in fourth with a leap of 4.36m. Lee was also tenth in the 100m (14:05), leading a Blue contingent that included first years Lauren Dines (Tenafly, N.J.) and Yashna Shivdasani (Mumbai, India). Dines was 15th (14.42) and Shivdasani took 20th (14.88). Dines also competed in the 200m, taking 14th in 29.44.

Also competing in the 200m, Narvaez added a time of 26.82 to take second. Sophomore Cathy Chen (Parsippany, N.J.) added a runner-up time in the 400m Hurdles, finishing in 1:12.68. Chen was also fourth in the 100m Hurdles, while classmate Jenn Harris (Vestal, N.Y.) took eleventh (18.98) in the 100m Hurdles and sixth (1:18.05) in the 400m Hurdles. Junior Isabella King (Cincinnati, Ohio) tossed the javelin 30.27m to take runner-up honors in the event following a consistent set of throws. King was also seventh in the 400m (1:05.84). Also competing for the Blue, sophomore Catherine Xie (Newton, Mass.) was eighth in the 5000m in 20:44.48.

Sophomore Helen Andersen (Madison, N.J.) was the top Wellesley finisher in a pair of the throwing events, sending the shot put 9.23m to take 10th overall and tossing the hammer 34.76m to finish in fourth. Wellesley had three top-ten marks in the hammer, thanks to first years Silvie Coheleach (Bernardsville, N.J.) in eighth (29.30m) and Crystalina Guo (Montgomery, N.J.) in ninth (29.08m). Guo was the top performer for the Blue in the Discuss, taking seventh (27.26m), followed by Coheleach in eighth (23.55m) and Andersen in tenth (22.40m). Senior Susannah Perkins (Ottsville, Pa.) took 12th in both the shot put (7.76m) and the hammer (24.82m). 

The outdoor season continues for the Blue next Friday and Saturday, April 14 and 15, at the Connecticut College Silfen Invitational in New London, Conn.