Photo Courtesy of Frank Poulin Sports Photography
Gorham, ME --- Senior Briana Wise (Worcester, MA/Burncoat) successfully defended her 200 meter title and helped lead the 4x200 relay to first place as she helped the Worcester State women's indoor track and field team take home eighth at the Division III New England Championships at Southern Maine this afternoon.
For the second-consecutive season, the Lancers posted a top 10 finish with 36 points for the second-highest finish by a public institution in the region. Last year, the Blue and Gold posted sixth with a school-record 53 points.
Wise clocked 25.20 in the 200 before she added a split of 7.33 in the 60 meters for third overall and was named this week's MASCAC Female Track Athlete of the Week.
In what was the performance of the day, Wise teamed with sophomore classmates Liz Bodensieck (Raynham, MA), Alexandria McMahon (E. Longmeadow, MA) and Brittany Hodgerney (Leicester, MA) for a final time of 1:45.58.
Wise received the baton in fourth place on the final leg, just seven meters behind the leader, only then sprint to the top of the pack and finish .08 of a second ahead of Rhode Island Colleges' second place time.
Junior Christy Deininger (N. Attleboro, MA) repeated with All-New England accolades with third in the 60 meter hurdles (8.47) and she also added sixth in the 60 (7.36).
In the latest NCAA Division III rankings, Wise's 60 time at MIT last month (7.88) is tied for 19th while Deininger's converted 60 meter hurdles time from last week is tied for 13th (9.08). The top 15 times, heights and distances earn spots for the Indoor Championships in three weeks.
Hodgerney also wrapped up her day with eighth in the 200 (26.58) for All-New England honors. Second-year Amanda Caldarone (Danvers, MA) equaled her performance from last year's meet with an All-New England performance in the long jump (5.17m/16-11.50) for eighth.
The 4x400 meter relay team of McMahon, junior Megan Taylor (Danvers, MA), sophomore Kim West (Harvard, MA) and freshman Emily Riehl (Trumbull, CT) was nearly a second off All-New Enlgand accolades in ninth (4:06.45)
The distance medley relay team of Hodgerney, sophomore Chelsey Peso (Uxbridge, MA) along with seniors Natalie Marchi (Northbridge, MA) and Erin Donohue (Saugus, MA) clocked a school-record time of 12:57.57 for 11th place.
Taylor, West and Reihl timed 11th (1:00.54), 18th (1:02.52) and 20th (1:02.69) in the 200, respectively, while Bodensieck tallied 21st in the 60 meters (7.63).
Junior Hannah Werneth (N. Yarmouth, ME) tossed 12th in the shot put (37-01/11.30m) as freshman Maddison Benson (Attleboro, MA) notched 20th in the 60 meter hurdles (9.23).
Next week select members of the Blue and Gold will compete at the Open New England Championships hosted by Boston University.