SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. – Junior Michaina Loriston (Boston, Mass.) won gold in the 100 meters and silver in the 200 meters to lead the Wheaton College (Mass.) women's track & field team to a fourth-place finish at the New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference Women's Track & Field Championship hosted by Mount Holyoke College at MHC Track & Turf in South Hadley, Mass.
The Lyons tallied 65 points to finish behind Springfield College's total of 94.5 points. No. 3 nationally-ranked Massachusetts Institute of Technology racked up 278 points to capture its fourth straight and 16th overall NEWMAC Championship.
Loriston broke the NEWMAC record in the 100 meters in yesterday's preliminaries with a time of 11.77 and clocked in at 11.82 to finish first in today's finals. Wheaton junior Wendy Wooden (Sharon, Mass.) placed fourth in the race with a personal-best mark of 12.38. Loriston also finished as the runner-up in the 200 meters with a personal-record time of 25.01 for the 57th-fastest time in NCAA Division III. Sophomore Camille Connors (Woburn, Mass.) placed eighth in the 200 with a time of 26.299, while first year Inez Medeiros (Fall River, Mass.) placed 11th with a mark of 26.73. Senior Emily Zielinski (Orange, Conn.) clocked in at 26.740 to finish 13th.
The Lyons claimed silver in the 4X100-meter relay behind Zielinski, Wooden, Connors and Medeiros with a time of 48.82. Wheaton's 4X400-meter relay was also outstanding with a third-place showing behind sophomore Jessie Dickson (Southbury, Conn.), first year Mimi Batista (Peabody, Mass.), senior Eliza Speidel (Billerica, Mass.) and sophomore Maya Thomas (Goffstown, N.H.).
Wheaton junior Kate Wickenheisser (Oxford, Conn.) turned in a sixth-place effort in the 400-meter hurdles with a personal-record time of 1:09.14 and classmate Kristen DiBella (Boston, Mass.) was 10th in the race with a mark of 1:11.29.
Junior Abbie Cramer (Farmington, Maine) scored points for the Lyons, placing sixth in the heptathlon with a score of 3141 points for the eighth-highest total in school history. She placed eighth in the high jump (3.87 meters), second in the javelin throw (28.53 meters) and fifth in the 800 meters (2:43.91).
Thomas and Batista both established personal records in the 400 meters, placing seventh and ninth, respectively for Wheaton. Thomas pulled in at 1:00.23, while Batista posted a mark of 1:00.84. Dickson was 10th in the event with a time of 1:00.89.
First year Maezy Gleason (Scarborough, Maine) recorded a personal-best toss of 31.07 to finish seventh in the discus throw and was eighth in the shot put with a heave of 10.16 meters for the Lyons. Junior Anika Wagner (Elmore, Vt.) finished 10th in the discus with a throw of 29.40 meters and 14th in the shot put with a distance of 9.23 meters. Senior Madison King (Wethersfield, Conn.) placed 12th in the shot put with a mark of 9.29 meters.
Wheaton sophomore Lauren Hinckley (Niantic, Conn.) made her personal-best count in the triple jump with a leap of 10.91 to rank as the seventh-best mark in school history and a ninth-place finish in the event at the meet.
Junior Jaz Vanderhoof (Portland, Maine) turned in a time of 18:40.41 to finish ninth in the 5000 meters and first year Reilly Hickey (Medford, Mass.) also finished ninth with a personal-record time of 17.17 in the 100-meter hurdles for the Lyons.
Wheaton first year Abby Wozniak (Blackstone, Mass.) finished 18th in the 1500 meters with a time of 5:24.84, while junior Abby Martin (Keene, N.H.) clocked in at 5:28.83 to place 21st. Senior Marguerite Bartlett (Centerbrook, Conn.) was right behind her at 22nd with a time of 5:37.83 and first year Niyati Hotha (South Brunswick, N.J.) recorded a time of 6:07.43 to place 26th. Sophomore Anna Butrimas (Berlin, Conn.) placed 25th in the 800 meters with a personal-best time of 2:48.47 for the Lyons.
Wheaton returns to the track on Friday, May 2 when it travels to New London, Conn. to compete at the New England Division III Outdoor Track & Field Championship.
