Women's Track & Field Captures MASCAC Indoor Title

GORHAM, Maine -- The Bridgewater State University Bears captured the program's first Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) Indoor Track and Field title on Saturday at the MASCAC/New England Alliance Championships hosted by the University of Southern Maine.

Held at the Costello Sports Complex in Gorham, Maine, the Bears finished with a team score of 215 points outdistancing defending champion Westfield State University.  The Owls finished second with 173 points, followed by Worcester State University (125 pts.) and Fitchburg State University (60 pts.).

Bridgewater State captured seven individual titles on the day as well as one relay.  The Bears also placed second in ten individual events and one relay.

Sophomore Ariele Krevosky (Oxford, Mass.) led the way for the MASCAC champion Bears as she captured individual titles in the both the long jump and the triple jump while also setting the school mark in the long jump.  Krevosky recorded a leap of 16 feet, 10.75 inches (5.15 meters) to break Carrie Robitaille's 2011 program mark of 16 feet, 8.75 inches.  Krevosky also posted a distance of 35 feet, two inches (10.72 meters) in the triple jump.

Junior Krysta Zbikowski (Ashburnham, Mass.) won MASCAC titles in a pair of distance events as she finished first in both the 3,000-meter run (11:06.80) and the 5,000-meter run (19:41.39).

Senior Becca Geldmacher (Rochester, Mass.) broke the conference record in the 600-meter dash with a time of 1:39.02.  Geldmacher also ran the anchor leg on the Bears' MASCAC record-setting 4x400 relay team which posted a time of 4:04.33.  Joining Geldmacher on the relay were classmate Karen Anselmi (Franklin, Mass.) and freshmen Amanda Lane (Abington, Mass.) and Abbie Pustis (Andover, Mass.).

Anselmi also earned top individual honors in the 400-meter dash with a time of 1:00.22.

Freshman Samantha Richner (Hanson, Mass.) rounded out the Bears' MASCAC champions as she won the high jump with a leap of five feet, three inches (1.60 meters).

Freshman Traci Perry (Middleboro, Mass.) set the BSU indoor record in the 55-meter dash. Perry placed fifth in the event with a time of 7.57 seconds as she broke Taylor Smith's 2010 BSU indoor mark of 7.68 seconds.

Freshman Sydney Bennett (North Attleboro, Mass.) placed second in the shot put with a toss of 39 feet, 2.25 inches (11.94 meters).

Also recording second place finishes for the Bears were sophomore Danielle Poto (North Andover, Mass.) in the mile (5:32.50) and 3,000-meter run (11:07.39), Lane in the high jump (4'11.75"), Pustis in the 400 (1:00.53), sophomore Theresa Connolly (North Andover, Mass.) in the 800-meter run (2:29.94), sophomore Tshani Williams-Core (Dorchester, Mass.) in the triple jump (34'1.25"), senior Jacey Peers (Elmsford, N.Y.) in the 5,000-meter run (19:55.48) and senior Melissa Chiasson (Maynard, Mass.) in the weight throw (48'3.25").

Bridgewater's relay team of Anselmi, Perry, and seniors Michelle Atkins (Chelsea, Mass.) and Laura McHugh (Mansfield, Mass.) placed second in the 4x400 with a time of 1:48.09.

Runner-up Westfield State had six individual title winners, including dual winners Targie Gervais in the 55-meter dash (7.26) and 200 meter dash (26.71) and Naloti Palma-Kaluma in the shot put (40'6.25") and weight throw (48'6.75"). Ashley Monahan finished first in the 1,000-meter run (3:12.19) while Olivia Marshall led the way in the mile (5:29.47). The quartet of Monahan, Ashley Dow Romano, Lori Merlo and Tara Saraf claimed top honors in the 4x800 (10:24.96) for the Owls.

Christy Deininger led the way for Worcester State with a conference record in the 55-meter hurdles (8.30).  Nichole Tillery, Alyssa Jasper, Elisabeth Bodensieck and Brittany Hodgerney crossed the line first in the 4x200 meter relay (1:46.56).  Fitchburg State took home the final two individual titles with Jenae Harrison finishing first in the 800 meters (2:23.96) and teammate Rebecca McClure topping the list in the pole vault (10'6.00").

Bridgewater State finished in second place behind host Southern Maine in the 2014 New England Alliance Championship, which combines competition between institutions from both the MASCAC and Little East Conference. The Huskies landed in the top spot with 184 points while the Bears posted 99 points in the Alliance scoring.

Next weekend, the Bears will compete at the Division III New England Championships hosted by Springfield College.