Williams Distance Women lead Ephs to Fourth Place Finish at UMASS Invite
Williams Women Place Fourth At UMASS Invitational
AMHERST MA- This Saturday at the UMASS Invitational, the Williams Women’s Track and Field team relied havily upon its distance contingent to secure a fourth place finsh against extremely stiff competition. In The 5000 Meters, junior Lauren Philbrook continued her series of great performances this weekend with a fourth place finish with a time of 18:21.03. In the 3000 meter steeplechase, freshmen Meghan Shea improved on her previous times to clutch a 11:40.49 finish with a placement of 6th for the Ephs. In the 1500 meter run, 4 Ephs finished in the top 8 securing a great number of points for the team. Sophomore Olga Kondratjeva ran a 4:38.36 placing 2nd, less than a second behind the leader of the pack. Rounding out the group in 6th, 7th, and 8th, senior Lissy Robie, sophomore Bret Scolfield and Freshmen Lizzie Danhakl finished with times of 4:44 and 4:45 qualifying them For both the NESCAC and the Division Three Championships. In the 800 meter run, the pack was incredibly close knit all through the race yielding an extremely exciting finish in the seeded heat. The top finishers for the Ephs were sophomore Ariel Williams in 2nd with a 2:14.32, freshmen phenom Sara Wild with a 2:15.06 and 8th place by the multi-talented sophomore Olga Kondratjeva with a 2:16.93.
Not to be outshined by the distance team, the sprinters relished in the warm weather and yielded great performances from the sophomore class today by Shawna McArdle in the 100, 200 and 4X400 meter relay and Emily Heaslip in the open 400. In the open 400 meter dash, Heaslip placed third with a time of 59.29 and freshmen Anne Kerth also broke the top 8 with a time of 62.16, improving on her best for the season. McArdle placed 6th in the 100 meter dash with a time of 13.01 a personal best for the season as well as 5th in the 200 meter dash with a 26.26.
In the jumps and throws, the freshmen women continue to improve for the Ephs in many fields. In the Javelin Throw, freshmen Julia Cohan threw an impressive 110 ft 9 inches to place third with sophomore Kristen Baldiga and senior Katie stack finishing in 6th and 7th with throws of 102 and 99 ft respectively. Freshmen Rachel Teitlebaum finished 5th in the pole vault soaring to a height of 10 ft with sophomore Tara Oberg finishing 8th with a height of 9-00.25 ft. In the last event of the day, the Ephs finished 4th overall in the 4X400 meter relay run by Sara Wild, Shawna McArdle, Lizzie Danhakl and Ariel Williams at times leading the pack but ultimately finishing with a time of 4.02.07. The next meet for the Williams Ephs is Little Threes that will take place at Amherst College on April 19.
