NEW LONDON, Conn. — Senior Michaina Loriston (Boston, Mass.) won the 100 meters for the third straight year with a conference-record time and was part of the first place 4X100-meter relay to lead the Wheaton College Mass.) women's track & field team on the final day of the New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference Outdoor Championship at host United States Coast Guard Academy's Nitchman Field in New London, Conn.
The Lyons tallied 70 points to place sixth in the title meet, while No. 9 Massachusetts Institute of Technology won its 17th NEWMAC crown and fifth straight with 276 points.
Loriston registered a time of 11.82 to win the 100 meters and eclipse the former NEWMAC mark of 11.84 set by Wheaton's Kim Jones '04 at the 2001 meet. Loriston registered times of 11.77 in last year's preliminaries and an identical 11.82, but both times were deemed to be wind-aided and not eligible for the record. Loriston's victory was her third consecutive in the event to become the first Lyon since Chizoba Ezeigwe '09 to win three straight NEWMAC individual crowns when she won both the 100 and 200 meters from 2006-08. Loriston's time is the ninth-fastest in NCAA Division III this season. She was also part of Wheaton's gold-medal 4X100-meter relay to give her five gold medals, including a first place finish in the 4X100 in 2023 for the Lyons. She has the most gold medals since Emily Gustavson '17 captured seven golds from 2014-17.
Senior Wendy Wooden (Sharon, Mass.) led Wheaton's 4X100, before handing off to Loriston. Junior Camille Connors (Woburn, Mass.) followed before yielding to senior Kate Wickenheisser (Oxford, Conn.) for the anchor leg to combine on a time of 47.94. Wickenheisser was also part of the Lyons' 4X100 relay that placed first in 2024. The Blue and White have won the relay 16 times in school history.
Senior Kristen DiBella (Boston, Mass.) placed second in the 400-meter hurdles with the seventh-fastest time in school history at 1:05.00, which also ranks 66th in Division III. She also won the silver in the event in 2024 for the Lyons.
Sophomore Reilly Hickey (Medford, Mass.) also made it to the medal stand for Wheaton with a third-place showing in the heptathlon with a score of 3622 to stand as the sixth-highest mark in program history. She finished third in the 800 meters and the long jump with a time of 2:37.36 and a leap of 4.89 meters, respectively. Hickey also placed seventh in the javelin throw with a toss of 29.59 meters.
The Lyons also scored points in the 4X400-meter relay behind juniors Jessie Dickson (Southbury, Conn.), Maya Thomas (Goffstown, N.H.), Natalie Shaw (Belchertown, Mass.) and DiBella, who collectively clocked in at 4:07.31.
Senior Jaz Vanderhoof (Portland, Maine) placed fifth in the 5000 meters with a time of 18:03.92 to lead Wheaton's distance runners.
Sophomore Eva Garofano (Barrington, R.I.) led the Lyons' throwers with a distance of 36.97 to place sixth in the discus throw and put her sixth all-time at Wheaton in the event. Senior Anika Wagner (Elmore, Vt.) finished 12th with a throw of 30.89 meters and sophomore Maezy Gleason (Scarborough, Maine) was 16th with a mark of 27.54 meters. Junior Annie Reagan (Scarborough, Maine) recorded a distance of 22.51 in the event to finish 26th. Reagan was eighth in the shot put with a personal-best heave of 10.28 meters, while first year Kylee Murray (Old Town, Maine) turned in a personal-record distance of 9.48 meters to place 18th.
Sophomore Abby Wozniak (Blackstone, Mass.) led the Lyons in the 3000-meter steeplechase with a personal-record time of 12:00.38 to place eighth and junior Lauren Hinckley (Niantic, Conn.) was ninth in the triple jump with a leap of 10.70 meters. Junior Anella Bolster (Marcellus, N.Y.) was right behind her with a mark of 10.67 to finish 10th in the event.
Connors placed 11th in the 200 meters with a clip of 26.20, while Thomas recorded a time of 27.37 to finish 20th for Wheaton. Dickson turned in a time of 1:02.87 to place 13th in the 400 meters.
Sophomore Maggie Cizmar (Plymouth, Mass.) led a number of Lyons in the 1500 with a personal-record time of 5:11.57 to finish 11th, ahead of first year Sophia Woodcock (Warrington, Pa.), who clocked in at 5:33.63 for a personal-record time to place 24th. Classmate Caeli Wagner (Hingham, Mass.) was 28th with a personal-best time of 5:55.52 and sophomore Niyati Hotha (South Brunswick, N.J.) registered a mark of 6:01.35 to finish 29th.
Senior Abby Martin (Keene, N.H.) was Wheaton's best in the 800 meters with a time of 2:36.06 to place 22nd, just seconds ahead of junior Anna Butrimas (Berlin, Conn.), who was 24th with a personal-best mark of 2:44.32. Junior Annabelle Sanders (Miami, Fla.) wasn't far behind with a time of 2:48.73 to finish 25th.
The Lyons return to the track on Friday, May 1 for the two-day New England Division III Outdoor Regional Championship at host Springfield College in Springfield, Mass.
