Sacred Heart
Northeast Conference Indoor Track & Field Championships
Strong 3000 Meters Showing Helps SHU to Day One Lead at NEC Championships
2/19/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Track and Field
STATEN ISLAND - Spearheaded by a 20-point performance in the 3000 Meters, the Sacred Heart women's track and field team will take a 12-point lead into the second and final day of the 2016 Northeast Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships, as it looks to match the women's cross country team in defending its back-to-back titles for a three-peat. Through four team events SHU has totaled 39 points, with Robert Morris currently sitting in second place.
Alexandra Kaeslin, Shannon Hickey and Jennifer Hahne crossed back-to-back just .36 seconds apart to occupy spots two through four in the 3000 Meters. All three ran personal-bests en route to qualifying for the New England Championships, as the trio was more than nine seconds clear of the fifth place finisher with times of 10:35.39, 10:05.50 and 10:05.76, respectively. While Kaeslin and Hahne each matched their regular season standing in the conference, Hickey improved four spots to capture the first medal of her career. For Kaeslin, the second place finish gives her the first All-NEC honor of her career.
Meghan Hutch was just over a second short of making it 21 points in the event, coming in under the New England standard with a new personal best of 10:20.76 to place ninth. Central Connecticut's Brittany Mendelson won the event in 10:01.65.
Also winning a bronze for Sacred Heart was Nicole Bartosch, who leapt to third with a final New England qualifying mark of 5.5 meters to earn six points. That was just a portion of her busy day, as the junior also qualified in fourth for tomorrow's finals in both the 60 Meter Hurdles and 200 Meters. Not only was her time of 8.86 in the Hurdles a new personal best, it set a new school record and was just .01 seconds away from the ECAC standard. In the 200 Meters, she ran a New England qualifying time of 25.14.
Selina Sampieri matched Bartosch's bronze with one of her in the Pole Vault. She and three others cleared a New England qualifying 3.5 meters, 0.1 meters shy of her season best, but the sophomore had to settle for third due to missed attempts. Amy Vegliante was on the other side of a tiebreaker, earning SHU a point by clearing 3.1 Meters to place eighth.
Rounding out Sacred Heart's point total were Mareena DiMilia's and Kristina Klemenz's efforts in the Shot Put. DiMilia was one spot shy of the Pioneers' fifth medal of the day, claiming fourth with a personal best and New England qualifying mark of 13.23 meters. Klemenz brought SHU's point total in the event to seven by improving on her regular season standing by three spots, marking a new personal best of 12.27 meters for seventh place.
Sacred Heart also had several student athletes qualify for the finals in their respective events tomorrow. Most notably, Hahne will be joined by teammates Tara Connelly, Kelly Quinn, Molly Barker and Trista Leo in the Mile, as the quintet will make up half of the field in the final. Kayla Lawrence ran the fastest qualifying time in the 500 Meters, surpassing the ECAC standard with a time of 1:15.08. Taylor Ann D'Agostino, whose time of 1:17.34 was under the New England Standard, will join her in the finals. The Pioneers will have three of the eight finalists in the 800 Meter finals, as Cynthia Gray, Christine Donnelly and Caroline Conte qualified fourth through sixth, with Donnelly running a new personal best
The second day of the championships, held at the Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex, begin tomorrow at 9 am.
Personal Bests
The following Pioneers set new personal bests on the day:
Lawrence (200 Meters) – Her time of 25.37 missed out on the finals by just .05, as it was the ninth fastest in an event that takes the eight fastest.
Tanaya Wade (60 Meters) – Crossing in 8.0 seconds, she missed out on the final by .1 seconds.
Nicole Cote (800 Meters) – Her time of 2:21.89 put her just .72 seconds out of the finals.
Players Mentioned
