Asare Wins Long Jump Title as Blue Track & Field Competes at NE DIII Championships

MIDDLEBURY, Vt. -- Wellesley College track & field sophomore Abena Asare (Berlin, N.J.) jumped to a distance of 5.60m to capture the New England Division III Indoor Long Jump Championship on Saturday afternoon at the New England Division III Women's Indoor Track & Field Championships at Middlebury College's Virtue Field House.

Asare matched her previous season best mark of 5.53m on her first jump before leaping to a distance of 5.60m on her third attempt. Asare's title winning jump is also the top indoor mark of her career.

Wellesley earned a total of four all region (top-eight) finishes, recording 14 points to finish in 13th place out of 31 schools in the team standings. MIT took the team title with a team score of 123.50.

Isabella Narvaez (Cali, Colombia) took down another school indoor record in the 400m. The junior finished in 58.11 to collect All-Region accolades with a third place finish, while breaking her own school record of 58.18, set at last weekend's David Hemery Valentine Invitational at Boston University. Narvaez also took eleventh in the finals of the 200m Dash with a time of 26.28.

In the 5000m Run, junior Mary Keenan (Borne, Texas) paced a contingent of four Wellesley runners, earning All-Region honors with a third place finish in 17:41.89.  Senior Priyanka Fouda (Wellesley, Mass.) helped the Blue earn another top-ten finish in the 5000m with a tenth place time of 18:30.60. Classmate Carolyn Chelius (Haddonfield, N.J.) took eleventh, winning her heat in a personal record time of 18:43.19. Keenan, Fouda and Chelius all hit ECAC Championship (March 4-5) qualifying times with their performances. Senior Edie Sharon (Winchester, Mass.) also took 20th in the event with a time of 18:56.35.

In the Mile, senior Sharon Ng (Sunnyvale, Calif.) clocked in at 5:05.95, garnering a fourth All-region honor for the Blue with a seventh place finish in the event.

Also in action for the Blue, senior Caitlin Bailey (Old Forge, N.Y.) was 17th in the 600m Run with a time of 1:42.30, while sophomore Priscilla Lee (Anaheim, Calif.)  took 13th in the High Jump, clearing 1.53m on her second attempt. Junior Sonja Cwik (La Cañada, Calif.) added an 11th place finish in the 800m Run with a time of 2:21.95.

The Blue closed out the day with an appearance in the 4 x 800 Relay, as the team of Bailey, Cwik, Keenan and Ng finished in 10:08.35 to take 12th place. 

Wellesley track & field returns to action next Friday and Saturday, February 26 and 27, at the NEICAAA All-New England Indoor Championships at the BU Track & Tennis Center.