Cwik Wins 1500m As Wellesley Track & Field Competes at Aloha Relays

BRUNSWICK, Maine – Paced by a first place finish from senior Sonja Cwik (La Canada, Calif.) in the 1500m, Wellesley College track & field totaled seven individual top-five finishes on Saturday at the Aloha Relays hosted by Bowdoin College.

In her first appearance since running the 3000m at the 2017 NCAA Indoor Championships, Cwik led a group of five Wellesley runners in the 1500m with a New England Division III (NE DIII) Championship qualifying time of 4:46.16, finishing first in her heat and overall. The Blue also got a ninth place (5:08.81) finish from senior Sara Vannah (Amherst, Mass.), while junior Taylor Fortnam (Portolla Valley, Calif.) finished in 17th (5:21.17), and first years Sarah Halabe (Los Altos, Calif.) and Elizabeth Lambert (Kensington, Md.) took 25th (5:36.13) and 29th (5:39.24), respectively.

Senior Edie Sharon (Winchester, Mass.) was the only other member of the Blue to clock an NE DIII Championship qualifying time on Saturday, finishing fifth in the 5000m with a time of 18:38.72. Sophomore Catherine Xie (Newton, Mass.) followed in 11th place in 19:52.08.

In the sprints, senior Isabella Narvaez (Cali, Columbia) took seventh in the 200m with a time of 27.54, while first year classmates Lauren Dines (Tenafly, N.J.) and Yashna Shivdasani (Mumbai, India) were 19th (30.14) and 24th (30:74). Dines also took 15th (14.60) in the 100m, while Shivdasani was 19th (15:01).

Junior Isabella King (Cincinnati, Ohio) was the only Wellesley competitor in both the 800m and the javelin, securing a pair of top-ten results. King cruised to a seventh place finish in 2:31.08 in the 800m and was sixth in the javelin with a mark of 27.72m.

Sophomores Cathy Chen (Parsippany, N.J.) and Jenn Harris (Vestal, N.Y.) each advanced to the finals in the 100m Hurdles, where Chen took second in 16.93 and Harris was sixth in 19.00. The duo also competed in the 400m Hurdles, where Chen took eighth (1:10.92) and Harris was 14th (1:17.61).

Senior Emma Scalisi (Waltham, Mass.) and junior Priscilla Lee (Anaheim, Calif.) each represented the Blue in the long jump, with Scalisi taking sixth with a leap of 4.71m and Lee finishing in 14th (4.26m). Scalisi was also fifth in the triple jump (10.30m), while Lee took fourth in the high jump, clearing 1.43m. 

Sophomore Helen Andersen (Madison, N.J.) was the top Blue finisher in both the shot put and the hammer. Andersen took ninth in the shot (9.30m) and eighth in the hammer (37.26m). Also competing in both events, senior Susannah Perkins (Ottsville, Pa.) was 11th in the shot (8.03m) and 14th in the hammer (27.29m). First years Crystalina Guo (Montgomery, N.J.) and Silvie Coheleach (Bernardsville, N.J.) also added 12th (33.56m) and 15th (25.78m) place finishes in the hammer. 

In the relays, Wellesley's team of Chen, Dines, Lee, and Narvaez clocked a time of 53.40 to take fourth in the 4 x 100. In the 4 x 800, Cwik, Fortnam, King, and Vannah were third in 10:21.19.

Wellesley will head to the 2017 New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Championships next Saturday at MIT.