New London, CT --- A championship performance from freshman Addison Pong (Bolton, MA) led the way as the WPI women's track and field team surged to a fourth-place finish at the NEWMAC Championships on Saturday.
 
Pong captured the NEWMAC title in the shot put with a winning throw of 12.36 meters, reclaiming the lead on her final attempt of the competition.
 
On the track, graduate student Vivienne Evans (Newtown Square, PA) placed third in the 100 meters (12.20), while sophomore Rayna Thompson (Brentwood, NH) followed in fourth (12.32). Thompson added a fourth-place finish in the 200 meters (25.59), while Evans placed fifth (25.69), as the sprint duo racked up valuable team points.

The 4x100-meter relay team of sophomore Julia Fronc (Plaistow, NH), Thompson, freshman Ella Stone (Branford, CT), and Evans posted a season-best time of 49.87 to finish sixth, while the 4x400-meter relay of Fronc, freshman Sabrina Cady (Lowell, MA), senior Bethany Brown (Allentown, PA), and Thompson also placed sixth (4:09.91).
 
In the hurdles, sophomore Madisen McLeod (Ledyard, CT) placed sixth in the 100-meter hurdles (15.58), followed by freshman Addison Collins (Tyngsboro, MA) in seventh (15.69). In the 400-meter hurdles, Brown led the Engineers with a third-place finish (1:05.34), while freshman Samantha Alley (Randolph, NJ) placed fifth (1:06.61) and senior Bailey Allmon (Woodbine, MD) took seventh (1:07.50) to pick up more team points.
 
Wrapping up the running highlights, sophomore Catherine Daly (Groton, MA) recorded a personal-best time of 11:56.86 to place seventh in the 3000-meter steeplechase.
 
In the field events, freshman Reese Dyson (Schwenksville, PA) placed eighth in the discus (32.94m), while McLeod added an eighth-place finish in the shot put (10.50m). Freshman Shayna Hailey (Stoughton, MA) finished seventh in the triple jump (10.94m).
 
In the heptathlon, sophomore Caetlyn Embree (Sherborn, MA) led WPI with a fourth-place finish, totaling 3,457 points, highlighted by a runner-up finish in the 800 meters and second place in the long jump. Sophomore Emma Conway (Suffield, CT) placed fifth overall with 3,420 points with solid performances across the board, while senior Lauren Coutu (Baldwinville, MA) finished sixth with 3,399 points, winning the javelin throw and adding a fourth-place showing in the 800 meters.
 
WPI climbed from eighth after day one to finish fourth overall with 76 points. MIT won the team title with 276 points, followed by Coast Guard (121.5) and Springfield (84.5). Babson (72.5) placed fifth, Wheaton (70) sixth, Smith (61.5) seventh, Wellesley (35) eighth, Salve Regina (13) ninth, and Mount Holyoke (9) 10th.
 
Additionally, Allmon was recognized as the NEWMAC Laurels of Academic Excellence recipient for women's track and field, awarded for the highest GPA at the championship.
 
Qualified student-athletes will next compete at the New England Division III Championships, hosted by Springfield, beginning Friday, May 1.
 
Results