Women's track and field finishes fifth at NESCACs
April 25, 2009

Duncan

Alexander

Marino

Lindauer

Tobin

Godek

L. Smith

Higgins

Hartung

Bash

Bourne

Collet
NEW LONDON, Conn. -- The Bates College women's track and field team received numerous outstanding performances en route to finishing fifth out of 11 teams at the NESCAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships on Saturday at Connecticut College.

The Bobcats finished with 61 team points, edging Colby (57.50) for fifth place, tying their best finish at NESCACs in the past decade with the 2006 Bobcats.

Bates' outstanding performance came despite junior standout Vantiel Elizabeth Duncan (Topsham, Maine) coming away with no points in an event in which she was seeded first, the hammer throw. Duncan fouled in all of her attempts in the hammer, but still won her second straight conference title in the shot put (43-01.50) and finished third in the discus throw (118-02).

Also repeating as a NESCAC champion was senior Izzy Alexander (Harvard, Mass.), who won her third career conference title in the 400-meter hurdles with a NCAA Championships provisional qualifying time of 1:02.90.

Senior Jen Marino (Methuen, Mass.) shattered her own Bates record in the triple jump by over a foot, finishing third in 38-00.00, an NCAA Championships provisional mark.

Sophomore Dana Lindauer (Needham, Mass.) finished third in the 400-meter dash in a time of 59.15 seconds, improbably doing so while running in the second, nominally slower, heat. Her time was only 0.13 seconds behind the Bates record set by Sarah Dominick in 1994.

First-year Tina Tobin (Lowell, Mass.) notched a Bates record in the 100-meter hurdles, finishing fourth in a time of 15.74 seconds, which nipped by 0.05 seconds the record she previously shared with Alexander.

Sophomore Sarah Ellen Godek (Gilford, N.H.) placed third in the hammer throw (141-02, while junior teammate Laura Smith (Boulder, Colo.) placed fifth in the event (137-05).

Bates' 4x400-meter relay team of Marino, Lindauer, senior Tara Higgins (Jeffersonville, Vt.) and Alexander finished fourth in a time of 4:02.90.

Also scoring points for the Bobcats were sophomore Megan Schleck (Mendota Heights, Minn.), who was eighth in the pole vault (9-03.00); junior Esther Kendall (Ridgeway, Ontario), who was eighth in the 3,000-meter steeplechase (11:55.98); and the eighth-place 4x800 relay team (9:52.63) of junior Katie Bash (Wallingford, Pa.), sophomore Chloe Bourne (Litchfield, Conn.), sophomore Kat Collet (Leawood, Kan.) and junior Lisa Hartung (Farmington, Maine).

The Bobcats next compete at the New England Division III Championships at Springfield College next weekend.

MEET RESULTS