NORTON, Mass. – Three Wheaton College (Mass.) competitors won individual events and eight total registered personal-bests today at the Wheaton Invitational hosted by the Lyons at Beard Field House on the Wheaton campus in Norton, Mass.
Sophomore Jessie Dickson (Southbury, Conn.) finished first in the 400 meters with a season-best time of 1:00.70, while junior Jaz Vanderhoof (Portland, Maine) picked up her second win in as many weeks, crossing the line with a winning time of 5:23.82 in the mile for the Lyons. Junior Anika Wagner (Elmore, Vt.) recorded a toss of 15.50 meters to win the weight throw.
The Lyons closed the meet with a time of 4:14.14 in the 4X400-meter relay to rank as the 84th-best time in NCAA Division III, courtesy of Dickson, sophomore Maya Thomas (Goffstown, N.H.), first year Mimi Batista (Peabody, Mass.) and junior Kate Wickenheisser (Oxford, Conn.).
Vanderhoof wasn't the lone Wheaton runner to excel in the mile with first year Abby Wozniak (Blackstone, Mass.) turning in a personal-record mark of 5:55.50 to finish sixth and junior Abby Martin (Keene, N.H.) clocking in at 6:07.62 to place ninth.
Junior Wendy Wooden (Sharon, Mass.) made her season debut with a third-place effort in the 200 meters, backed by a time of 27.42 for the Lyons, while sophomore Camille Connors (Woburn, Mass.) was fourth in the event at 27.44 and first year Inez Medeiros (Fall River, Mass.) was fifth with a time of 27.60. Senior Eliza Speidel (Nottingham, N.H.) finished eighth with a time of 28.69 and sophomore Natalie Shaw (Granby, Mass.) placed ninth with a mark of 29.22 to give Wheaton five runners in the top nine of the race.
Wheaton sophomore Anella Bolster (Marcellus, N.Y.) notched a third place showing in the long jump with a leap of 4.75 meters and sophomore Lauren Hinckley (Niantic, Conn.) finished fifth in the triple jump with a distance of 10.33 meters.
Junior Michaina Loriston (Boston, Mass.) led the Lyons' sprinters with a season-best clip of 7.94 seconds (7.93 in prelims) for a fourth-place finish, followed by sophomore Savanna Vargas (Peabody, Mass.), who posted a time of 8.00 seconds in the race to place fifth. Senior Emily Zielinski (Orange, Conn.) placed sixth with a time of 8.21 seconds and Wickenheisser was eighth with a time of 8.43 seconds for Wheaton.
Senior Marguerite Bartlett (Centerbrook, Conn.) finished ninth for the Lyons in the 1000 meters with a personal-record time of 3:40.01 and first year Chloe Vescio (Douglas, Mass.) recorded a mark of 11:04.05 to log a fifth-place finish in the 3000 meters.
Wagner added a ninth-place effort in the shot put after a heave that went 10.47 meters and first year Maezy Gleason (Scarborough, Maine) finished 12th in the event with a distance of 9.77 meters. Gleason added a personal-best mark of 8.44 meters to place 22nd in the weight throw for Wheaton.
Wheaton returns to action on February 7 for the first day of The Showdown at the Heights, hosted by Boston College at The Track at New Balance in Boston, Mass.
