Fortnam Wins 3000m as Blue Track & Field Competes at MIT Invitational

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- Junior Taylor Fortnam (Portola Valley, Calif.) took first in the 3000m and Wellesley College track & field totaled seven top-ten finishes on Saturday at MIT's Gordon Kelly Invitational.

Fortnam posted a pair of collegiate bests during Saturday's meet, winning the 3000m with a time of 10:52.27, while also finishing in fifth in the 800m with a time of 2:29.22. Fortnam's time in the 800m gave the Blue two top-five finishers in the event, as classmate Isabella King (Cincinnati, Ohio) was the runner-up in the race with a time of 2:27.20. King's time was over a second faster than her winning time at last weekend's Tufts Cupid Challenge and was also an N.E. DIII Championship qualifying mark.

King was also a participant in the 200m, where the Blue had three runners in the field, including classmate Priscilla Lee (Anaheim, Calif.) and first year Hannah Knoll (Boise, Idaho). Lee turned in the top time among the Blue contingent with a mark of 29.20 (17th), while King finished in 30.49 (25th) and Knoll in 32.03 (30th). Knoll also ran in the 60m Hurdles, finishing 29th in 11.14, while Lee went on to take sixth in the High Jump, clearing 1.47m.

Wellesley added top-ten times in the 600m and 5000m to complete the day on the track. Sophomore Jenn Harris (Vestal, N.Y.) took eighth in the 600m in 1:51.93. Classmate Catherine Xie (Newton, Mass.) was sixth in the 5000m, running to a personal record time of 20:07.14. Also competing for the Blue on Saturday, first years Fiona Harrigian (San Marino, Calif.) and Sarah Halabe (Los Altos, Calif.) added times of 11:51.71 (16th) and 12:35.35 (20th) in the 3000m.

Senior Emma Scalisi (Waltham, Mass.) was Wellesley's lone representative in both the Triple Jump and the Long Jump. Scalisi took fourth in the Triple Jump with a leap of 10.30m, registering her beat mark of the season in the event. The Wellesley senior was also 12th in the Long Jump, leaping to a distance of 4.63m.

First year Crystalina Guo (Montgomery, N.J.) and sophomore Helen Andersen (Madison, N.J.) were Wellesley's top performers in the Shot Put and Weight Throw, respectivley. Guo led a Wellesley group of three with a 29th place toss of 9.26m in the shot. Senior Susannah Perkins (Ottsville, Pa.) was 36th (8.43m), while Andersen added a distance of 7.73m (45th). Andersen went on to take 14th in the Weight Throw with a toss of 12.21m. Also in the Weight Throw, first year Silvie Coheleach (Bernardsville, N.J.) took 24th (10.85m), while Perkins and Guo followed in 33rd (9.74m) and 38th (8.81m), respectively.

Wellesley track & field will return to MIT next Saturday, February 18, for the New England Division III Indoor Championships. Competition is set to get underway at 10:30 AM.