MULTIPLE LOCATIONS —
United States Coast Guard Academy women's track & field took on a pair of meets this past weekend, with the majority of the team heading down the street to take on Connecticut College's two-day Silfen Invitational while a select few competed in the University of South Florida's South Florida Invite on Saturday, April 11th.
South Florida Invite; Meet Results
TAMPA, Fla. — The South Florida Invite consisted of NCAA Division I and II competition, as well as several NAIA athletes. By the end of the meet, the representing Bears posted several personal bests, two school records, and a NCAA DIII #1 national mark.
Posting that top mark was senior Allie Wildsmith (Bainbridge Island, Wash.), taking the win in the women's high jump. Wildsmith opened the day clearing 1.60 meters (5' [3") and didn't look back. After clearing several heights, she had two misses at 1.75, only to clear it on her third attempt. Wildsmith went on to clear 1.78 meters (5' 10") on her first attempt to take the win.
The first school record for the day was set by senior Alaina Stonebraker (Salt Lake City, Utah) after running a lifetime best time of 56.53 seconds in the 400 meters. She surpassed the previous performance of 56.62 seconds by Adora Lawrence '20 in 2019. Stonebraker went on to run the 200 meters later in the day and posted a lifetime best mark of 25.05 seconds.
Tara Jessen (Signal Mountain, Tenn.) also set a school record in the 400-meter hurdles, her third consecutive school record performance. Jessen's best time in the hurdles before her race in Florida was 1:03.36, but the senior was ready for the challenge of a deep field and chased down the competition to smash her school record and set a new standard at 1:02.65.
In the long jump, senior Kaylee Wright (Plainwell, Mich.) post a solid series of performances in the preliminary round, with her top distance of 5.28 meters (17' 4") being a new season-best jump.
Silfen Invitational; Meet Results
NEW LONDON, Conn. — The highlight of the day back home came from the 4x800 relay, where Kate Stebbins (Chapin, S.C.), Ella Besant (Morehead, Ky.), Amanda Delevan (Boiling Springs, Pa.), and Claire Semerod (Centennial, Colo.) convincingly set a school record of 9:23.13. Their performance surpassed the previous record of 9:31.13 set back in 2018.
All four members of the relay had solid days of their own. In the 800 meters, Stebbins placed 3rd running a 2:18.08 with Bessant and Delevan close behind respectively running 2:19.60 for 5th and 2:20.52 for 6th. Semerod was 5th in the Elite 5,000 meters field running a 17:11.10 to jump into the top 50 of the national list.
Coast Guard's top finisher in sprints was freshman Bianca McIntosh (Woodbridge, Va.), who placed 3rd in the 400m running 59.32. Fellow freshman Josalyn Rush (Toms River, N.J.) ran 12.75 in the 100 meters prelims, only to improve upon it in the final round and run 12.65 to place 6th. Millie Wymbs (Salisbury, N.C.) took 8th place in the 200 meters with a career-best time of 26.78. Thuy Ngyuen (Camden, Ga.) was right behind in 8th at 26.82, and Rush placed 9th at 26.89. newcomer Elliot Geer (Grove, Okla.) placed 5th in the 400-meter hurdles by running 1:10.07 in her second race of the season.
Kevyn Fish (Pittsburgh, Pa.) was the top finisher for the Bears in her first ever 3k steeplechase, placing 5th after running 11:39.59. Mia Mastrogiovanni (Manahawkin, N.J.) also ran well, placing 8th after crossing the line in 11:48.71. Jordan Prinner (Citrus Springs, Fla.) ran the Elite section of the 1500 meters and clocked in at 5:11.28, and Alexa Allen (Monmouth, Maine) persevered through the 10k in 40:15.08.
In the field events, freshman Hailey Corritore (Erie, Pa.) was the winner in the triple jump with a top mark of 10.59 meters (34' 9"), while EmmaClaire Staver (San Antonio, Tex.) placed 6th jumping 9.80 meters (32' 2"). In the throwing events, senior Mercedes Bowman (Cincinnati, Ohio) placed 3rd in the hammer throw with a personal best by ten feet on her top mark for the day of 40.29 meters (132'2"). Two more top-8 finishers came from the shot put after Sandra Kirvelevicius (East Lyme, Conn.) and Tyler Dickson (Severna Park, Md.) placed 4th and 7th, respectively. Kirvelevicius threw 10.67 meters (35' 0.25"), while Dickson had a 10.31-meter heave (33' 10").
Coast Guard women's track & field is set for double duty once again this upcoming weekend. The distance squad will take on the Sean Collier Invite Distance Night at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on Friday, April 17th. The rest of the team will head to Hartford, Connecticut, on Saturday the 18th for Trinity College's home meet.
