NORTON, Mass. – Junior Jaz Vanderhoof (Portland, Maine) and Anika Wagner (Elmore, Vt.) each captured first place finishes to lead the Wheaton College (Mass.) women's track & field team today at the Lyon Invitational in Beard Field House on the campus of host Wheaton in Norton, Mass.

Vanderhoof turned in a first-place time of 18:42.19 in the 5000 meters to also rank as the 94th-fastest mark in NCAA Division III this season. Wagner recorded a heave of 15.49 meters to top the field in the weight throw for the Lyons.

Junior Michaina Loriston (Boston, Mass.) led a formidable Wheaton trio in the 60 meters with a second-place finish of 7.94 seconds to place her 67th among Division III sprinters this season, while sophomore Savanna Vargas' (Peabody, Mass.) time of 7.97 in the event was good for fourth and the 85th-fastest in the nation. Senior Emily Zielinski (Orange, Conn.) clocked in at 8.16 seconds to place seventh in the race. In addition, Loriston finished fourth in the 200 meters with a time of 26.82, while sophomore Camille Connors (Woburn, Mass.) placed sixth with a mark of 27.59 and first year Mimi Batista (Peabody, Mass.) was ninth at 28.50 in her collegiate debut.

Sophomore Anella Bolster (Marcellus, N.Y.) was the runner-up in the long jump with a personal-record leap of 4.87 meters for the Lyons to go with an eighth-place finish in the triple jump with a mark of 9.76 meters. 

Wheaton won the first-ever mixed relay in school history, turning in a time of 3:44.46 in the 4X400 meter race. Sophomore Jessie Dickson (Southbury, Conn.) led off the race, before handing off to classmate Maya Thomas (Goffstown, N.H.). Seniors Kelvin Peterson (Eliot, Maine) and John Dowgiert (Methuen, Mass.), from the men's team, closed out the race with Dowgiert getting the win by just 1.4 tenths of a second for the Lyons.

Wheaton placed second in the women's 4X200-meter relay behind Zielinski, Vargas, Batista and Connors to combine on a time of 1:49.77.

Dickson also finished third in the 400 meters with a time of 1:00.86, while Thomas was fifth in the event with a mark of 1:03.12. Sophomore Lauren Hinckley (Niantic, Conn.) posted a leap of 10.43 meters in the triple jump to finish fourth for the Lyons.  Sophomore Natalie Sicard (Nottingham, N.H.) turned in a personal-record time of 1:54.72 to take fifth place in the 600 meters and was also eighth with a height of 1.36 meters in the high jump. Junior Abbie Cramer (Farmington, Maine) placed ninth in the high jump with a personal-record leap of 1.26 meters and added a ninth-place effort in the 60-meter hurdles with a clip of 11.10 seconds. 

First year Chloe Vescio (Douglas, Mass.) also made her mark in the 5000 meters with a personal-best time of 19:57.51 to place fifth, while junior Abby Martin (Keene, N.H.) placed 10th in the 800 meters with a mark of 2:41.05. First year Niyati Hotha (South Brunswick, N.J.) was Wheaton's top finisher in the mile run with a time of 6:28.75 to place 22nd in the race.

First year Maezy Gleason (Scarborough, Maine) registered a personal-record heave of 10.16 meters to lead the Lyons with a fifth-place showing in the shot put and also finished 22nd in the weight throw with a toss of 7.20 meters. 

Wheaton returns to Beard Field House on Saturday, February 1 when it hosts the Wheaton Invitational at 10:00 a.m. in Norton, Mass.