SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. - Coast Guard women's track & field secured a runner-up team finish at the NEWMAC Track & Field Championships, hosted by Mount Holyoke College on Friday and Saturday. Overall, the Bears crowned five NEWMAC champions, four runners-up who earned All-Conference status, and three new school record holder while scoring 127.5 points to MIT's 278 points.
Tara Jessen (Signal Mountain, Tenn.) won the Heptathlon, winning the event by over 300 points with a total score of 3,745, which is now third-best in program history. An hour and a half later, Jessen won the 400-meter hurdles with a school record time of 1:04.22.
In the high jump, Allie Wildsmith (Bainbridge Island, Wash.) established a new facility and NEWMAC record after clearing the bar at 1.76 meters (5' 9.25"). Maureen Hammond (Downington, Pa.) was the runner-up in shot put, setting a new outdoor personal best throw of 12.12 meters (39' 9.25") and tying for #2 in program history. Madelyn Greene (Chesapeake Beach, Md.) and Kaylee Wright (Plainwell, Mich.) both set new personal best marks in the triple jump, with Greene establishing a new school record performance of 11.18 meters (36' 8.25") and Wright's jump being 11.03 meters (36' 2.25").
Three runners in the 5,000 meters, led by senior Paige Phillips (Wilmington, N.C.), scored a total of 19 points for the Bears. Phillips won at 17:16.96 to set a facility record while teammates Claire Semerod (Centennial, Colo.) and Annabel Molner (Bremen, Germany) were fourth and fifth place by running 17:58.33 and 18:09.30, respectively. In the middle distance events, Sophia White (Gurley, Ala.) was runner-up in the 800 meters with a season best time of 2:15.55, with teammate Kate Stebbins (Chapin, S.C.) placed seventh running 2:20.96.
Alaina Stonebraker (Sandy, Utah) finished second in the 100-meter dash with a 12.26 and also placed third in the 200 meters running 25.34. Makenna Topp (Anthem, Ariz.) and Ella Besant (Morehead, Ky.) secured two top five finishes in the 400 meters, running third and fifth respectively at 57.66 and 59.43.
Coast Guard's relays scored 12 team points for the Bears in their second-place campaign. The women's 4x400 relay team of Besant, White, Stonebraker, and Topp won the event with a new school record of 3:54.76. Besant, Amelia Wymbs (Salisbury, N.C.), Wright, and Stonebraker later placed seventh in the 4x100 relay running 50.56, now fifth in the program record books.
Members of the women's track & field team will be competing next weekend in the New England Division III Championships, hosted at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy between May 2nd and 3rd.
