RESULTS
When and Where: April 16, 2016 – Fitchburg, Mass. (Elliot Field)
Results: No team scores
Junior Sahara Brown (Center Barnstead, N.H.) captured the javelin event and a total of 13 personal records were set on Saturday, as the Southern New Hampshire University women's track and field team competed at the 2016 Fitchburg State University Eric Loeschner Invitational at Elliot Field.
Brown took the javelin crown for the third time this season with a throw of 39.50 meters. She bested her next closest competitor by over half a meter and the third place finisher by just under three meters.
Three personal records fell in the 100-meter dash, and two Penmen posted times to finish in the top-10. Freshman Kylie Lorenzen (Holliston, Mass.) set a personal best with an official time of 12.83 seconds to finish No. 4 overall, and senior Gitara King (Manchester, N.H.) eclipsed her previous top time after crossing the line in 13.12 seconds, good enough for No. 8. Freshman Sydney Blais (Pascoag, R.I.) was the final student-athlete to earn a new personal best after a No. 14 finish in 13.12 seconds. Freshman Mary Claffey (Burlington, Conn.) checked into the top-20 in 13.74 seconds, which was just ahead of classmate Maddie Holt's (Seabrook, N.H.) outing of 13.98 seconds. Sophomore Taylor Downs (West Lebanon, N.H.) completed the Southern New Hampshire contingent in 15.81 seconds.
Lorenzen's second PR and top-10 finish came in the 200-meter dash. Lorenzen clocked a time of 26.70 seconds to slot in at No. 8 overall, while Claffey was just behind her in 28.65 seconds. Downs was next in for the Penmen in 36.06 seconds.
The 1500-meter run also featured three new personal bests, as freshman Ashley Dennis (Coventry, R.I.), junior Felicia Dowling (Merrimack, N.H.) and freshman Rael Gallucci (Wilmington, Mass.) eclipsed their previous milestones. Dennis led a pack of four Penmen in five minutes, 24.90 seconds, and her time on Saturday is 14 seconds faster than any time she has run the distance. Dowling checked in next with a time of 5:27.77, beating her previous record by 10 seconds. Sophomore Maddie Bardier (Pembroke, N.H.) traversed the track in 5:52.40, before Gallucci's personal record of 6:35.54 closed out the Southern New Hampshire group.
Sophomore Amber Herrington (Burlington Township, N.J.) set a new personal record and joined Holt in the top-10 of the 400-meter hurdles. Herrington, who was third overall, made her way through the track in one minute, 9.31 seconds, which edged out Holt's time of 1:21.75. Holt's performance was good enough to earn No. 10 overall.
The duo were also in action in the long jump competition, and both were successful enough to garner top-20 recognition after another set of personal bests. Holt launched 4.50 meters to come in at No. 13. Herrington was just behind her with a landing distance of 4.43 meters, en route to placing No. 17.
In the discus throw, freshman Ashley Elder (Bristol, Conn.) finished third overall and was the top Penmen in the event. Elder fired the disc 38.14 meters, while Brown also checked in to the top-five with a 32.96-meter outing. Sophomore Melissa Melanson (Goffstown, N.H.) finished No. 13 and set a new personal best with a toss of 29.30 meters, which is 2.52 meters than her previous benchmark. Junior Melissa Handy (Durham, Conn.) rounded out the Southern New Hampshire contingent with a throw of 26.04 meters.
Melanson continued her outstanding day in Fitchburg with her second PR of the afternoon, this time the hammer throw. Melanson whirled and fired the weight 43.13 meters, 3.08 meters than her previous record, to finish third overall. Elder's heave traveled a distance of 34.75 meters put her in the top-10 for the second time on Saturday with a 10th-place showing.
Elder's final finish within the top-10, as well as her final new and improved personal best came in the shot put. Elder's throw of 11.12 meters put her in eighth place after the final. Handy also took part in the shot put and was No. 12 overall with a toss of 10.12 meters.
Freshman Gabby Richardson (Litchfield, N.H.) led a trio of Penmen in the 800-meter run, as she cruised to a 10th-place finish in two minutes, 36.72 seconds. Next was Dennis with a time of 2:44.37 before Gallucci completed the event in 3:07.87.
Sophomore Kaitlin McCauley (Waltham, Mass.) earned herself a spot in the top-10 in the 5000-meter dash and she was in the top-15 alongside junior Devanee Ebert (Reading, Mass.). McCauley clocked an official time of 20 minutes, 56.99 seconds to place No. 10, and Ebert was across 23:22.32.
Both Southern New Hampshire relay teams were in the top-five, as the 4x100 grouping was third in its event and the 4x400 contingent was No. 4. The 4x100 matriculated the baton around the track in 51.28 seconds, which barely missed out on a top-two finish by 0.27 seconds. The 4x400 completed all of its handoffs in 4:20.35, which was just under five seconds outside the top-three.
Notes:
- Junior Skyler Shugrue (Worcester, Mass.) flew through the 100-meter hurdles in 18.63 seconds, good enough for No. 9 overall.
- Claffey was third in the pole vault after clearing a bar set at 2.75 meters.
- Bardier also placed No. 12 in the triple jump after landing at a distance of 8.20 meters.
What's Next:
The Penmen resume their schedule on Sunday (April 24) when they head to the College of the Holy Cross for the Holy Cross Invitational.
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