Posted: Feb 17, 2024

Blue Track & Field Wins Second Consecutive Peter de Villiers Cup

Wellesley College track & field won the Peter de Villiers Cup at Smith College on Saturday (Frank Poulin)

NORTHAMPTON, Mass. – Wellesley College track & field won its second straight Peter de Villiers Cup against Smith College and Mount Holyoke College on Saturday.

The Blue narrowly won the three-team competition with 56.5 points. Mount Holyoke was right behind with 56 points, and Smith took third with 54.5 points.

Sophomores Sara Maeve Klingensmith (Chapel Hill, N.C.) and Charlie Barron (Chattanooga, Tenn.) went 1-2 in the 400m race. Klingensmith had a winning time of 1:02.54, followed by Barron with a time of 1:02.80.

Klingensmith took another win in the Long Jump with a distance of 5.05m. Junior Erin Dickinson (Papillion, Neb.) was fourth with a distance of 4.77m. Dickinson registered a distance of 10.10m to take third in the Triple Jump.

Sophomore Kenya Francis (Atlanta, Ga.) and junior Emily Doyle (Mobile, Ala.) were the top two finishers in the Shot Put. Francis had a distance of 9.80m followed by Doyle with a distance of 8.69m. Doyle finished first in the Weight Throw event with a personal-best distance of 13.60m while Francis was fourth with a personal-best distance of 9.79m.

Wellesley's 4x400m Relay team of sophomore Charlie Barron (Chattanooga, Tenn.), junior Aoife Fitzgerald (Paxton, Mass.), senior Eriko Darcy (Chicago, Ill.) and Klingensmith claimed first with a winning time of 4:14.74.

Sophomores Ella Whinney (Madison, Wis.), Simone Beauchamp (Aurora, Colo.) and Megan Cunningham (Portland, Maine) finished second, fourth and fifth in the Indoor Mile with respective times of 5:12.07, 5:28.78 and 5:39.57. Whinney later took third in the High Jump with a height of 1.46m.

Junior Merete Ogah (Austin, Texas) finished second in the 60m dash with a time of 8.24. Darcy placed fifth with a time of 8.47. Senior Taylor Quaye (Los Angeles, Calif.) claimed third with a time of 27.60 in the 200m while Darcy was fourth with a time of 27.95.

Sophomore Emily Brydges (Suffield, Conn.) was the 3000m runner-up with a time of 10:44.08. The time was a personal-best for Brydges. Classmate Claire Peng (Chapel Hill, N.C.) also had a personal-best time of 2:25.66 to take fourth in the 800m.

Fitzgerald earned the bronze in the 60m Hurdles with a time of 11.02. Senior Bianca Lee (Hong Kong, China) set a PR in the 1000m with a time of 3:27.82.

Peng, Quaye, Beauchamp and Whinney recorded a time of 12:54.26 to place second in the Distance Medley Relay.

Up next, the Blue take part in the New England DIII Championships at the TRACK at New Balance in Boston, Mass. on Sunday, February 25.