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Holy Cross Women’s Track Places Fifth

Future Bright as Young, Female Runners Shine at the Patriot League Track and Field Championships

Sports Co-Editor

Published: Friday, February 22, 2013

Updated: Sunday, February 24, 2013 16:02

track

Courtesy of Goholycross.com

Caroline Carley earned Rookie of the Meet Honors at the Patriot League Championships thanks to her contributions in two third place finishing relay teams, as well as her individual in the 1000 meter run.

Before the Holy Cross Women’s Track and Field team traveled to West Point to compete in the Patriot League Championships February 15-17, senior Kelcey Germain , ‘13 said that, “It’s worth noting that seven first year women track and field athletes are making the trip this year.” The seven freshman, Oona Wood, ‘16 Caroline Carley, ‘16 Victoria Engvold, ‘16, Melissa LaCoste, ‘16, Morgan Zurlo, ‘16, Alexandra Eckert, ‘16, and Elizabeth Provost, ‘16 represented nearly a quarter of the Holy Cross travel squad competing at the conference championships.

    “The first year women showed up to preseason and proved to the entire team that they were dedicated to the sport and had the desire to perform well,” said Germain. They proved themselves during preseason, and they did so again when it mattered, achieving some of their best performances of the season at this highly competitive meet. Melissa LaCoste earned fifth place in the high jump with a distance of 1.6 meters. Oona Wood placed third in the 500 meter run in a time of 1:17.21. Those were just some of the great freshman performances by Holy Cross, but in  particular, freshman Caroline Carley performed well in three events, including two relay events. Carley helped senior teammates Kathleen Brekka, ‘13, Sarah Meinelt,  ‘13, and Britt Gorski, ‘13  place third in the 4x800 meter relay, with an ECAC qualifying time of 9:06.23. Carley also ran on the Distance Medley Relay team with Brekka, Gorski and sophomore Fiorella Johnson. The DMR took third with a time of 12:12.70.

   Yet, Carley’s weekend of competition was not over. Carley, who ran in the unseeded section of the 1000 meter run, took first place with an ECAC qualifying time of 2:55.35. “Her strong effort in the 1000 meter run as well as the two relays earned her rookie of the meet award,” said Gorski on Carley’s performances. “The league will definitely have a force to be reckoned with for the next few years.”

    The freshmen were not the only ones to compete well this past weekend. Many Holy Cross athletes performed  season and personal best times and distances. Senior Britt Gorski placed second in the 800 meter run with an ECAC qualifying time of 2:14.14. Sophomore Sarah Dahlstrom placed third in the Indoor Pentathlon, scoring 3,098 points. Juniors Sandra van den Heuvel, ‘14 and Amanda Waldron, ‘14 ran indoor personal best times in the 5,000 meter run, with times of 18:14.56 and 18:22.97 respectively. Junior Emily Hughes also ran a personal best time in the 3000 meter run with her time of 10:17.78.

   “It was such an exciting day. Everyone was really there for their teammates today,” said Hughes. Sophomore Abigail Mitchell improved her season best time in the mile by nearly  ten seconds, running 5:07.37.  “We were all really excited about each other’s success,” said Hughes.

    “There were too many great performances to single anyone out in particular,” said junior Steph Okpoebo, “but Marissa Romano and Mackenzie Arndt both broke the school record in the triple jump and pole vault respectively.” Romano placed sixth in the triple jump with the school record breaking distance of 11.10 meters. Arndt placed second in the pole vault with her ECAC qualifying jump of 3.75 meters, and also placed fifth in the 60 meter hurdles with a time of 9.43 seconds.  “I’m proud of my team, particularly the younger girls,” says Okpoebo. “They showed us how important they are to our program. The future of our team looks promising.”

    Okpoebo also had a fine showing this past weekend. She placed second in the 200 meter dash, only .15 seconds behind first place. Okpoebo did leave the meet with an individual win in the 60 meter dash in a time of 7.70 seconds. The Holy Cross team finished in fifth place with a total of 74 points. Yet, the women’s team should be excited, especially with so many outstanding performances by the young girls on the team. “We had a great showing at Patriots this weekend. Our league is extremely competitive,” said Gorski. “Everyone really stepped up and did their part.”

     The Holy Cross Women’s Track and Field team continues competition February 22 and 23 at the New England Championships.

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