Fitchburg, MA --- Sophomore Andrea Ouellette (Salisbury, MA) and freshman Mara Kralian (Grafton, MA) broke a pair of school records with first place finishes as the women's outdoor track and field team finished fifth out of 14 teams at the Jim Sheehan Invitational hosted by Fitchburg State College.
Ouellette eclipsed a 13-year record held by Lancer Hall of Famer Elke Aun in the triple jump with a leap of 37-03.25 feet and in the process provisionally qualifying for the NCAAs in the event. Aun's mark was previously 36-03 ft and set at Colby in March of 1996. Ouellette also ended the meet finishing fourth in the 400 meter hurdles (1:15.97) and sixth in the 100 meter hurdles (17.98).
Kralian passed another mark that was held by Aun in the long jump as she chalked up a jump of 17.05.50 ft (5.37 m) as she was just .10 meters away from punching her ticket to the NCAAs. Aun's record was 16-10.75 ft and set in April of 1996. Kralian also ended the meet placing first in the 100 meter dash (13.29) going against the wind.
On the track freshman Kristina Lisacki (Woburn, MA) took sixth in the 200 (29.21) while junior Kara Antrim and first-year Meg Plant (Franklin, MA) recorded sixth (20:22.57) and 10th (20:59.55) in the 5,000, respectively.
Freshman Maura Withington (Walpole, MA) and Plant finished in 11th (2:39.84) and 12th (2:40.64), respectively, in the 800 while Withington also added 19th (5:26.67) in the 1,500.
In the field, first-year Brittany Stoddard (Orange, MA) placed second overall in the javelin with a toss of 116-06 feet to qualify for the New England Regional's and the ECACs while classmate Rachel Baker (Mystic, CT) was right behind in fifth (97-11 ft).
Sophomore Jill Rollins (Leicester, MA) and Christina Bisbee (Attleboro, MA) also tossed 10th (118-08 ft) and 11th (117-03 ft) in the hammer throw, respectively. Rollins registered 13th in the shot put (28-01.75 ft) and 15th in the discus (88-04 ft) while Stoddard rounded out the finishers as she took home seventh in the shot put (31-03.25 ft) and 20th in the discus (79-03 ft).
Colby edged out Bates for the top spot with 211 points while the Bobcats tallied 205 points. UMass-Dartmouth scored 66 for third place followed by Keene States 64 points while the Lancers notched 62 points.
Two weeks before the MASCAC/New England Alliance Championships, Worcester State will travel to Boston, MA to run at Northeastern University.