Women’s track and field places sixth at New Englands
 |
 |
|
Duncan |
Alexander |
 |
 |
|
Radis |
Kirkland |
 |
 |
|
Marino |
Lindauer |
 |
 |
|
Mitton |
Balentine |
 |
 |
|
Rosania |
Bash |
 |
 |
|
Alberto |
Bourne |
NORTHAMPTON, Mass. — Bates College won first place in three events en route to a sixth-place showing out of 25 scoring teams Saturday at the 2008 New England Division III Women’s Indoor Track and Field Championships, hosted by Smith College.
With 62 points, Bates nearly tripled its scoring output of 21 points at last year’s New Englands, when Bates came in 13th place. Tufts won the team title with 136 points, and rounding out the top 10 were Williams (128.50), MIT (79), Springfield (76), Amherst (73), Bates (62), Bowdoin (49), Keene State (38.50), Colby (33) and Middlebury (33).
Sophomore Vantiel Elizabeth Duncan (Topsham, Maine) took home New England titles in both the shot put (42’02.75″) and the 20-pound weight throw (53’10.50″), recording a personal best and qualifying provisionally for NCAA Championship competition in the shot put. Duncan is already an automatic NCAA qualifier in the weight throw.
Duncan’s senior captain teammate, Cassandra Kirkland (Greene, Maine), finished third in the weight throw for six more points for the Bobcats.
Bates’ other event winner was junior Izzy Alexander (Harvard, Mass.), and it was achieved in a highly unusual way, in the intermediate heat. Not among the top seven qualifiers in the event, Alexander took an aggressive approach in the second-fastest of three heats. Alexander “pulled” MIT junior Andrea Bradshaw along behind her for most of the race, and in a photo finish Alexander was declared the winner with an identical time (2:17.32) as Bradshaw.
“Izzy just took off and hit all three of the splits that were set up for her,” said Bates coach Jennifer “Jay” Hartshorn. “You never win that way (from the slower heat).”
Sophomore sprinter Molly Radis (Peaks Island, Maine) also submitted an outstanding day, finishing fourth in both the 200- and 400-meter dashes. Radis was the first Bates woman in over 20 years to break the 1-minute barrier in the 400, recording a time of 59.87 seconds, and she also notched a season-best time of 26.67 seconds in the 200.
First-year Dana Lindauer (Needham, Mass.) just missed placing among the top eight in the 400, posting her second personal record of the season at 1:01.21 and narrowly missing the qualifying mark for the ECAC Division III Championships.
Junior Jen Marino (Methuen, Mass.) scored points for Bates in both the long jump and triple jump. Marino triple jumped a career-best 35’10.75″, placing second, and she long jumped 16’03.75″, good for seventh place.
Senior Molly Balentine (Hampden, Maine) finished 14th at 10:41.10 and qualified for ECACs in the 3,000 meters along with first-year teammate Jennifer Mitton (Reisterstown, Md.), who came in 12th in 1:38.40. “Molly ran really, really well,” Hartshorn enthused.
Bates’ 4×400-meter relay team finished third in 4:03.62, the No. 2 performance in Bates history. In order, the team was comprised of Alexander, Radis, Lindauer and Marino. Bates also missed out on scoring but ran a strong 4×800 relay, with senior Amy Rosania (Rye Beach, N.H.), sophomore Katie Bash (Wallingford, Pa.), first-year Alexandria Alberto (Concord, Mass.) and first-year Chloe Bourne (Litchfield, Conn.) finishing ninth in 9:53.82, while also recording the ninth-best time in program history.
Bates next competes at Open New Englands next weekend at Boston University.