Sophomore Ava Shipman helped the Blue to a runner-up performance in the 4x400m relay (Frank Poulin).
Sophomore Ava Shipman helped the Blue to a runner-up performance in the 4x400m relay (Frank Poulin).
Posted: Apr 05, 2019

Blue Track & Field Places Sixth at Coast Guard Invitational

NEW LONDON, Conn -- Wellesley College track & field continued their outdoor season with multiple top-five finishes on Saturday afternoon as they competed in the U.S. Coast Guard Invitational.

Connecticut College took home the team title spot with 149 points. The Blue ending the day in 6th place with 45 points, which was 16 points ahead of 7th place Babson.

Senior Helen Andersen (Madison, N.J.) was responsible for the team points earned in the field events, as she gathered nine total points. Andersen earned five points with a fourth place finish in the hammer throw with a distance of 39.18m. Andersen picked up the other four points with a 11.39m throw in the shotput, which placed her fifth.

Leading the track events, the Blue 4x400m relay squad of first year Ana Yokanovich (Stillwater, Minn.), senior Cathy Chen (Parsippany, N.J.), sophomore Ava Shipman (Makawao, Hawaii) and junior Liz Wegman (East Sandwich, Mass.) had an impressive showing, placing second with a time of 4:17.50 and earning eight team points. Sophomroe Grace Cowles (Yarmouth, Maine) tallied six team points in the 1500m as with a new PR of 4:51.36 and a third place finish.

Chen and sophomore Rachel Berets (Belmont, Mass.) also placed in the 100m hurdles, as Chen placed second with a new PR (15.63) and Berets finished sixth, earning the squad eight and three points, respectively. Senior Jenn Harris (Vestal, N.Y.) picked up four points in the 400m hurdles with a fifth place finish and in a PR of 1:10.52.

In other field action, junior Keer Sun (Pine Brook, N.J.) had two top-10 finishes in the high jump and javelin throw, placing seventh with a jump 1.45m and tenth in javelin with a distance of 21.23m. Sophomore Abby Parakoyi (Houston, Texas) made her debut in the discus throw with a distance of 19.45m.

The 400x100m relay team of senior Yuriko Fukumura (Newton, Mass), sophomores Aiyana Smith (Brooklyn, N.Y.) and Hana Sugioka (Newbury Park, Calif.) and first year Ana Yokanovich (Stillwater, Minn.) finished in a time of 52.05, good for a fifth place finish. Junior Eva Paradiso (Burlington, Mass.) set a new PR in the 1500m with a time of 4:58.03, which placed her eighth in the event.  Yokanokvich led the Blue participants in the 200m with a time of 27.89, while sophomore Aiyana Smith (Brooklyn, N.Y.) paced Wellesley in the 100m with a time of 13.78. Fukumura also set a new PR in the 100m, as the senior finished in 13.81.

Wellesley returns to competition next week back in New London, Conn on April 12 and 13th at the Silfen Relays on the campus of Connecticut College.