NEW LONDON, Conn. —
The U.S. Coast Guard Academy women's track & field team powered themselves to a dominant first place finish at CGA Winter Invite #2 on Friday evening, the team's second and final indoor home meet of the season. Coast Guard accumulated 221 points to top the standings with runners-up Westfield State University scoring 94.
Westfield State was followed by neighborly Connecticut College with 70 points. Eastern Connecticut State University slotted into fourth place with 43.5 points, and after them was Farmingdale State University with 38. Rounding out the standings were Worcester State University with 30.5 and Fitchburg State College with 4.
Tara Jessen (Signal Mountain, Tenn.) started the day with a bang by securing the top qualifying spot in the 55m Hurdles final with a personal record time of 8.96 seconds in the prelim. The senior multi-specialist later PR'd again in the final with a winning time of 8.88 seconds, which also moved her up to fourth all-time in the event on the program's indoor leaderboard. Also of note in the 55 Hurdles was
Laurel Davis (Jenks, Okla.) who secured points with a 10.10-second showing in the final for sixth place.
The hurdle-less variant of the event saw
Alaina Stonebraker (Salt Lake City, Utah) finish as the runner-up by tying her personal best of 7.38 seconds.
Starr Hepburn (Stafford, Va.) slotted into fourth at 7.46 seconds, while
Tyler Dickson (Severna Park, Md.) set a new PB of 8.13 seconds in the prelim. Dickson was later the top Bear in shot put with a second place finish thanks to a 10.72m (35' 2") heave, another personal record.
Stonebraker later took first place in the 200m by submitting a 26.71-second lap of the Gregory Field House track. Coast Guard took spots 1-5 in the event, with
Millie Wymbs (Salisbury, N.C.) earning the runner-up spot in a personal best 27.08 seconds. Hepburn was third at 27.14, followed by
Thuy Nguyen (Camden, Ga.) in fourth at 27.36 and
Iris Wikander (Newton, N.J.) in fifth at 28.23, a personal record for the freshman. Wikander was also Coast Guard's top high jumper on the day, finishing in third place with a highest clearance and new PR of 1.38m (4' 6.25").
Kate Stebbins (Chapin, S.C.) was second in the 400m after crossing the line in 1:03.01, and
Amanda Delevan (Boiling Springs, Pa.) was right behind her in third place at 1:04.42. Coast Guard swept the top three spots of the 800m, led by
Ella Besant (Morehead, Ky.) in first place at 2;25.84.
Chloe Middleton (McLean, Va.) was second at 2:28.18, a new personal best in the event, and
Jordan Prinner (Citrus Springs, Fla.) also PR'd with her third place time of 2:31.80.
It was dominance as usual for the Coast Guard in the major distance events as the Bears picked up wins in the Mile, 3000m, and 5000m.
Kevyn Fish (Pittsburgh, Pa.) was the mile winner, clocking in at 5:20.99, while
Meredith Isley (Valparaiso, Ind.) secured points with her fourth place finish of 5:31.71;
Mia Mastrogiovanni (Manahawkin, N.J.) topped the 3k in 10:53.10, followed by
Gabriella Shord (Laurel, Md.) in second at 11:13.78; and
Marin Baker (Corvalis, Oreg.) persevered through the 5k for a winning time of 20:48.09, with
Sierra Wangen (University Place, Wash.) taking third in 21:54.
A good day for relays saw a pair of squads move up the program's all-time indoor leaderboards. The 4x200m team of Hepburn,
Jocelyn Rush (Toms River, N.J.),
Bianca McIntosh (Woodbridge, Va.), and Nguyen placed second with a time of 1:47.89, slotting them into sixth all-time in the event. Delevan,
Claire Semerod (Centennial, Colo.) Stebbins, and Fish won the 4x800m in 9:53.35 while Besant, Jessen, McIntosh, and Stonebraker won the 4x400m with a new Gregory Field House record and CGA #5 time of 4:01.22, which was just over four seconds faster than the previous record set in 2018 by a team from Plainfield High School.
Jasmine Mendez (Cromwell, Conn.) joined Dickson in PR'ing in the throwing cage, taking fourth in the weight throw with a new best of 11.69m (38' 4").
Mollie Brinker (Wilmington, N.C.) was once again Coast Guard's best representative in the pole vault, clearing a 3.45m (11' 3.75") bar to finish as runner-up behind ECSU's Second Team All-American in the event.
Finally, it was a good day in the pit for
Kaylee Wright (Plainwell, Mich.), who was Coast Guard's top jumper in both long and triple jump with respective runner-up leaps of 5.14m (16' 10.25") and 10.86m (35' 7.5"). Jessen was third in long jump at 4.94m (16' 2.5"), and
Hailey Corritore (Erie, Pa.) rounded out the Bears' point-getters in the event with a 4.65m (15' 3") leap for sixth overall. Corritore was also third place in triple with a 10.67m (35') leap, while Stebbins set a new personal best in long jump at 4.26m (13' 11.75").
FULL MEET RESULTS via TFRRS
Bears women's track & field will return to action next weekend, facing double duty by taking on the Cupid Challenge at Tufts University and the David Hemery Valentine's Invitational at Boston University.
