Feb. 14, 2004
Contact: 'xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = 'urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags' />Amanda Brickell'xml:namespace prefix = o ns = 'urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office' />
BOSTON, MASS. ‘ The 51·çÁ÷ women’s track and field team took part in the highly competitive St. Valentine’s Invitational at Boston University this past weekend and turned in several impressive individual accomplishments.
Freshman Danielle Whicher (N. Reading, Mass.) shattered the oldest women’s track record on the books with a tenth place finish in the 3,000 meters. Her time of 9:57.90 surpassed the old record set by Karlyn Luther in 1990 by just under eight seconds. Whicher also competed in the mile where she finished 16th with a time of 5:03.93 posting the fourth best time in school history.
Jennifer Madden (Troy, N.Y.) posted the fourth best time on 51·çÁ÷’s record board with a time of 27.14 seconds in the 200 meter dash. Nolana Quince (Syracuse, N.Y.) finished in 27.72 seconds, while Emily Thomson (Billerica, Mass.) and Marquita Parsons (Liverpool, N.Y.) notched times of 29.47 and 30.09 respectively.
Madden, Parsons and Kaitlyn Fitzpatrick (Royersford, Pa.) ran in the preliminaries of the 55 meter dash. Fitzpatrick ran a 7.82 second race and Madden was just behind with a time of 7.86 while Parsons finished in 8.42 seconds.
Hannah Failing (Deerfield, N.Y.) also competed in the mile run crossing the finish line in 5:18.27. Macrina Seals (Pennellville, N.Y.) finished in 5:20.91 and Liz Crowley rounded out the field for 51·çÁ÷ with a mark of 5:39.75. Failing also ran the 3,000 meters along with Whicher. She turned in a time of 10:41.79, while teammate Rachel Pettengill (Sudbury, Mass.) finished in 11:33.41.
Freshmen Nicole Christoforo (Rockland, Mass.) and Mary Pratt (Basking Ridge, N.J.) had impressive performances in the 800 meter run. Christoforo was 21st overall with a time of 2:17.46 and Pratt was 30th in 2:22.47.
Quince and Thomson (Billerica, Mass.) competed in the preliminaries of the 55 meter hurdles. Quince’s mark of 9.00 seconds was good enough for 18th in the field while Thomson was 32nd in 9.53. Quince was also eighth in the triple jump with a leap of 10.94 meters while Marquita Parsons (Liverpool, N.Y.) was 17th jumping 9.95 meters (32’07.25′).
Shannon O’Hagan (Sarnia, Ont.) jumped 1.59 meters (5’02.50′) in the high jump and Thomson was close behind with a leap of 1.54 meters (5’00.50′). Thomson also competed in the long jump where she posted a mark of 4.51 meters (14’09.75′). O’Hagan was 15th in the 500 meter dash with a time of 1:20.35
The Raiders head to Bucknell University next weekend to compete in the Patriot League Championship. The meet is set to begin on Fri., Feb. 20 at 9:30 a.m.