Women’s track and field team edges Colby in home dual meet
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Katie Bash ’10 (center) won the 1-mile race in 5:25.01. (Tom Leonard photo)
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LEWISTON, Maine — Throwers Vantiel Elizabeth Duncan and Cassandra Kirkland each qualified provisionally for the NCAA Division III Championships, highlighting the Bates College women’s track and field team’s dual meet win over Colby College Saturday at Merrill Indoor Gymnasium. The host Bobcats outscored the visiting Mules by a 94-87 margin in team points.
A day after entering Bates’ all-time top 10 performance list in the 20-pound weight throw at the BU Terrier Classic, Duncan (Topsham, Maine) went over four feet beyond that on Saturday, winning the event with a top throw of 52’02.75″. Duncan also took first place in the shot put, with a top put of 39’10.75″.
Duncan displaced Kirkland at No. 4 on Bates’ all-time performance list in the weight throw, even though Kirkland (Greene, Maine), too, notched a personal record on Saturday with a toss of 49’05.50″, also meeting the NCAA provisional qualifying standard. Kirkland placed fourth in the shot put, while first-year Sarah Ellen Godek (Gilford, N.H.) placed third at 33-05.75, putting her at No. 7 on Bates’ all-time list.
Bates was the winner in 10 out of 17 events.
Junior Jen Marino (Methuen, Mass.) won both the long jump (15’08.25″) and the triple jump (34’11.75″). Her triple jump, an indoor career best, puts her at No. 3 on Bates’ all-time performance list and qualifies her for New Englands and ECACs.
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| Megan Schleck took first place in the pole vault, at 9 feet and 5.75 inches. (Tom Leonard photo) |
Sophomore Katie Bash (Wallingford, Pa.) won the 1-mile run in 5:25.01. Senior co-captains Amy Rosania (Rye Beach, N.H.) and Molly Balentine (Hampden, Maine) finished third and fourth in 5:29.93 and 5:30.49, respectively, and all three Bobcats qualified for New Englands with their performances.
Sophomore Molly Radis (Peaks Island, Maine) won the 400 by five seconds in a time of 1:00.92, qualifying for New Englands.
First-year Megan Schleck (Mendota Heights, Minn.) won the pole vault at 9’05.75″, and qualified for New Englands.
First-year Lindsay Soule (South Portland, Maine) won the 55-meter hurdles in 9.87 seconds.
Senior Aviva Goldstein (Manchester, N.H.) placed second in the 5,000 meters at 19:11.8, qualifying for New Englands.
Bates won the 4×400 relay and qualified for ECACs in the process. Radis, Marino, Rosania and junior Izzy Alexander (Harvard, Mass.) finished in 4:12.17. Bates also won the distance medley relay, with first-year Chloe Bourne (Litchfield, Conn.), first-year Jen Krupski (Foxborough, Mass.), Bash and first-year Jen Mitton (Reisterstown, Md.), in order, finishing in 13:23.58.
Bates next competes at the USM Invitational on Feb. 2.