MARLBOROUGH, Mass. – Wheaton College (Mass.) women's track & field members Camille Connors (Woburn, Mass.), Michaina Loriston (Boston, Mass.), Kate Wickenheisser (Oxford, Conn.) and Wendy Wooden (Sharon, Mass.) earned First Team All-Conference honors, while Kristen DiBella (Boston, Mass.) and Anika Wagner (Elmore, Vt.) were Second Team selections, it was announced by the NEWMAC.
NEWMAC track & field athletes earned First Team honors upon placing first in any event at the conference championship meet on April 24-25, while second-place finishers received Second Team recognition.
Loriston earns First Team accolades for the fourth straight year after winning the 100 meters with a NEWMAC-record time of 11.82 to supplant the former mark of 11.84, formerly held by Wheaton's Kim Jones '04 in 2001. The senior won the 100 meters for the third straight year to become the first Lyon to win an individual race at three consecutive conference championships since Chizoba Ezeigwe '09 in 2008. The Business and Management major is the first Wheaton track & field student-athlete to be chosen First Team All-Conference in four straight years since Emily Gustavson (2014-17). The Boston Prep. graduate has run in the 100 meters up to and including the NEWMAC Championship three times and has won all three races.
Loriston was joined by Connors, Wickenheisser and Wooden to place first in the 4X100-meter relay with a time of 47.94. The win gave Loriston First Team status for a relay for the second time in her career after helping the 2023 relay place first as well. Wickenheisser earns First Team status for the second time after helping Wheaton's 4X100 relay win the 2024 crown. Connors and Wooden each received Second Team designation after running on the Lyon relay that was the runner-up in the 4X100 relay at last year's title meet. Connors, Wickenheisser and Wooden have competed on all four of Wheaton's outdoor 4X100 relay teams, while Loriston ran on three of them. The Lyons have finished first three times this season through the NEWMAC Championship meet, including at the Emory Dooley Elite meet on April 4 in Atlanta, Ga. with the sixth-fastest time in school history at 46.76.
DiBella turned in a personal-record time of 1:05.00 to place second at the NEWMAC Championship in the 400-meter hurdles to earn Second Team All-Conference for the second time after finishing second in the same event in 2024. Her time ranks as the seventh-fastest in school history. The Archbishop Williams High School product is the first Wheaton track athlete to earn All-Conference designation for the race on multiple occasions since Abby Epplett '18 was a Second Team selection in 2015, 2017 and 2018. The senior's time stands as the seventh-fastest in school history in the event. The Psychology major registered five top-five showings in the event, including a win in the race at the Sean Collier Invitational on April 18.
Wagner earns All-Conference honors for the second time in her career after earning Second Team status in 2024 as well. The senior is the first Wheaton field athlete to be named All-Conference multiple times in the hammer throw since Sylvia Okoye '13 was named Second Team in 2011 and First Team in 2013. A graduate of Stowe High School, Wagner recorded a toss of 47.41 meters to finish as the runner-up at the NEWMAC Championship. The Econometrics & Quantitative Economics major has placed sixth or higher in four meets this season, including a win at the Jerry Gravel Classic on April 11 and registered a season-high mark of 48.33 meters to finish fifth at the Jaylin Rainford Invitational on March 28.
