Springfield, MA --- Three school records fell as the WPI women's track and field team turned in nine All-New England performances along with a number of personal and season bests as the Engineers finished eighth at the New England Division III Championships Saturday at Springfield.
No. 6 MIT won with 123.50 points followed by No. 13 Williams with 86.50. Regional No. 6 Southern Maine was third (59) as No. 3 Middlebury was fourth (50). No. 11 UMass Boston came home fifth (46) followed by No. 4 Colby (44), No. 5 Tufts (42) and No. 8 WPI (41). No. 12 Wellesley was ninth and No. 9 Bridgewater State was 10th out of the 31 team field. No. 7 Bates, the only team ahead of the Engineers in the regional rankings, finished 11th (34).
Sophomore Abby McAdams (Montville, CT) established four PRs and won the 800-meter run en route to setting the WPI Record in the heptathlon with a third-place sum of 4,020 points. On Friday, McAdams clocked a PR of 16.54 in the 100-meter high hurdles and achieved a personal best heave of 33-3.25 in the shot put. She followed up with PRs in the long jump (15-11.5) and javelin (87-2.75) before taking thee 800m in a time of 2:29.63.
Senior Liz Pellegrini (Worcester, MA) set the second record of the weekend with a 1:01.44 in the 400-meter intermediate hurdles while junior Kimberlee Kocienski (Schaghticoke, NY) also established a new personal-best with a seventh-place time of 1:05.25. Pellegrini's time is currently fifth on the NCAA Division III Performance List and all but assures the local product a ticket to the NCAA Championships.
All three relays turned in their best times of the season led by the record-setting 4x800-meter relay team of sophomore Maggie LaRoche (Silverlake, NH), freshman Katie Nugent (Huntington, NY), sophomore Emily Newman (Easton, MA) and senior Julie Tevenan (Weymouth, MA). The foursome set the program record with a fourth-place time of 9:22.59.
The 4x100-meter quartet of sophomore Taylor Teed (Boxford, MA), Pellegrini, senior Alex Price (Franklin, MA) and sophomore Sara Velleca (Woodbury, CT) collaborated for a second-place 48.18 as Velleca, Price, Pellegrini and sophomore Lea Strangio (Watertown, MA) came home sixth (3:59.83) in the 4x400-meter relay. Velleca added a fifth-place time of 25.32 in the 200-meter dash as Strangio (seventh - 2:17.21) and LaRoche (2:17.85, PR) clocked season-best times in the 800-meter run.
Both freshman Carley Dykstra (Andover, NJ) and junior Sarah Muse (Portsmouth, NH) cleared 10-6 in the pole vault while the rookie claimed the eighth-place point courtesy of tiebreakers.
Freshmen Steffany Halfrey (Hubbardston, MA) and Nugent established new personal standards in the 3,000-meter steeplechase (12:10.58) and 400-meter dash (59.35), respectively, as Tevenan raced to a season-best 4:43.99 in the 1,500-meter run.
Select student-athletes head to Southern Connecticut next weekend for the NEICAAA All-New England Championships.