Track & Field Takes Third, Sets Program Points Record At NEWMAC Championships

NEW LONDON, Conn. – Wellesley College track & field scored 108.5 points to take third place overall at the 2016 New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Championships on Saturday afternoon at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy. The point total was a new program record for the meet, while the third place finish was the best in program history. 

Seniors Priyanka Fouda (Wellesley, Mass.) and Sharon Ng (Sunnyvale, Calif.), juniors Mary Keenan (Boerne, Texas) and Edie Sharon (Winchester, Mass.) and sophomore Abena Asare (Berlin, N.J.) all earned NEWMAC First Team All-Conference honors on the day. 

Fouda ran to victory in the 5000m, clocking in at 17:43.47 to earn the first NEWMAC title of her career on the track. Fouda's time was a DIII NE, NEICAAA and ECAC Championship qualifying time. Ng earned the second conference title for the Blue's senior class, tracking down the field in the home stretch of the 800m to finish with a DIII NE and ECAC qualifying time of 2:18.65. 

Kennan finished just over two seconds ahead of the runner-up to garner All-Conference recognition for her first NEWMAC title in the 1500m. Keenan's clip of 4:43.76 was a DIII NE and ECAC qualifying time and one of two Wellesley times in the top-eight, along with senior Laura Brindley's (Mercer Island, Wash.) mark of 5:01.85.

Wellesley took three of the top-four spots in the 3000m Steeplechase, led by Sharon's first place and All-Conference time of 11:28.82. Senior Alessandra Gavin (Annapolis, Md.) and sophomore Taylor Fortnam (Portola Valley, Calif.) followed in third and fourth, running times of 11:49.14 and 11:56.71. All three hit DIII NE qualifying times, while Sharon and Gavin registered ECAC cuts. Sharon also qualified for the NEICAAA Championships. 

The 2015 NEWMAC Long Jump champion, Asare defended her title in 2016, taking first team All-Conference honors for the second time in as many years with a leap of 5.73m. Her DIII NE, ECAC and NEICAAA qualifying jump now has Asare ranked among the top-ten in the NCAA in the event. Asare also finished with a top-five time in the 100m, taking fourth and qualifying for the DIII NE and ECAC championships in 12.56 seconds. 

Junior Isabella Narvaez (Cali, Columbia) picked up points for the Blue with top-five times in a pair of events. Narvaez took third in the 400m with a time of 58.64. She also took fifth in the 200m, clocking in at 25.71 seconds. First year Cathy Chen (Parsippany, N.J.) rounded out the individual top-five time of the day for the Blue with a third place finish in the 400m Hurdles (1:06.38). Chen was also ninth in the 100m Hurdles (16.34). Both times for Chen were DIII NE qualifiers.

The Blue registered a pair of top-five marks in the relays. Sophomores Priscilla Lee (Anaheim, Calif.) and Isabella King (Cincinnati, Ohio) joined Chen and Asare to take fifth in the 4 x 100 with a time of 50.04. Ng, King, Narvaez and Chen took third in the day's final event, the 4 x 400 Relay, just missing All-Conference honors with a time of 4:08.60. Lee was also eighth in the High Jump (1.48m), while King was seventh in the Javelin (29.61m).

Qualified participants will now look forward to the New England Division III Outdoor Championships, Friday and Saturday, May 6-7, at Springfield College.