NEW ORLEANS, La. — Six members of the Wheaton College (Mass.) women's track & field team were named to the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Outdoor All-East Region Team, it was announced by the USTFCCCA.
Junior Camille Connors (Woburn, Mass.) and seniors Kristen DiBella (Boston, Mass.), Michaina Loriston (Boston, Mass.), Anika Wagner (Elmore, Vt.), Kate Wickenheisser (Oxford, Conn.) and Wendy Wooden (Sharon, Mass.) all earned All-Region status for the Lyons.
The top-8 individuals in each event from each region earned All-Region distinction, in addition to each member of the region's top-8 relay teams. The regions used for this award – East, Great Lakes, Metro, Mid-Atlantic, Mideast, Midwest, Niagara, North, South, and West – match those used during the cross country season.
The criteria was changed from previous years, where the top-5 individuals and top-3 relay teams received All-Region recognition.
Connors, Loriston, Wickenheisser and Wooden were tabbed following their effort in the 4X100-meter relay. Connors and Wooden repeat after being tabbed All-Region last year in the same event. Loriston also earned All-Region laurels for the 100 meters and has been named All-Region in each of the last four years for the 4X100 relay and three times for the 100 meters. She joins Schyler Wyse '24 as the only two Wheaton outdoor track & field athletes to earn All-Region status four times since 2016 when the USTFCCCA began recognizing competitors in the region. Wagner earns All-Region designation for the second time in the hammer throw after being selected as a sophomore in the event. DiBella and Wickenheisser are first-time honorees.
Loriston posted the third-fastest time in the region with a mark of 11.80 in the 100 meters to win the race at the Augustana Midwest Twilight Final Qualifier on May 14 in Rock Island, Ill. The Boston Prep. product dominated the event with four first place showings during the outdoor season, prior to the NCAA Championship. Her time of 11.82 set a conference record at the New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference Championship on April 25 in New London, Conn. at host United States Coast Guard Academy.
Wagner recorded a toss of 48.33 meters to place fifth in the hammer throw at the Jaylin Rainford Invitational hosted by Bryant University in Smithfield, R.I. on March 28 to open the season. A graduate of Stowe High School, Wagner turned in six top-seven performances during the season, including a win at the Jerry Gravel Classic at host Westfield State University on April 11 and a runner-up showing at the NEWMAC Championship. The Econometrics major is the second thrower in school history to earn outdoor All-Region honors multiple times and the first to do it in the hammer throw.
DiBella recorded the fourth-fastest time in the region in the 400-meter hurdles with a clip of 1:03.66 to place seventh at the Midwest Twilight Final Qualifier. The time represented the fourth straight meet that the Archbishop Williams High School graduate registered a personal-record mark in the event and is also the seventh-fastest in program history. The Psychology major competed in the event seven times during the outdoor season and finished no lower than seventh during the campaign. DiBella placed second in the 400-hurdles at the NEWMAC Championship and won the event at the Sean Collier Invitational hosted by Massachusetts Institute of Technology on April 18.
Wooden served as the lead leg for the Lyons with Loriston and Connors following to precede Wickenheisser as the anchor for Wheaton's 4x100-meter relay. The quartet posted a season-best time of 46.76 to capture the title at the Emory Dooley Elite Meet in Atlanta, Ga. on April 4 and serve as the third-fastest time in the region. The relay squad won the NEWMAC Championship and finished first a total of three times during the season in addition to a third-place finish.
The Lyons placed sixth at the NEWMAC Championship and qualified to compete at the NCAA Division III Championship in both the 100 meters and the 4X100-meter relay.
