By Scott Priest
Staff Writer

The women’s track team kicked off the outdoor track season on Saturday as they traveled to Waterville for a dual meet with Colby. The Bobcats were defeated by the host White Mules 175-148.

“We had a very competitive meet despite missing a few players due to injury,” noted coach Carolyn Court. The Bobcats she mentioned were seniors Julie Dutton, Beth Pagnotta, and Sarah Tressel, all of whom suffered from either injury or illness and were therefore unable to compete.

Sophomore Kelley Godsey shined in three events, winning the hammer throw and discus while taking second in the shot put. Godsey broke two school records, including her own in the hammer throw with a mark of 182-03.0. She broke teammate Tiffany Tropino’s record in the discus with a mark of 128-07.0. Tropino, who joined the team in the spring after nursing injuries in the winter, finished second, ten feet behind Godsey.

“Kelley had a great meet, and is just a few feet short of the national record in the hammer,” said Court.

Fresh off an indoor national title in the shot put in Wisconsin last month, senior Liz Wanless dominated the field in the event at Colby with a mark of 50-02.5. The effort broke her own school record. She is currently ranked number one in the nation in the event.

Court noted the success of the long distance runners in addition to the weight throwers. “We had a few outstanding events, including the 5000-meter race.”

In the 5000, first-year Ann Lovely set a personal best with a time of 18:52.17. Her first-place finish is a Division III qualifying mark. Following Lovely were Katherine Creswell, Katie McElroy, and Elizabeth Scannell, in second, third, and sixth, respectively.

All four women reached NESCAC qualifiers. Scannell set a personal record and was voted the meet’s “outstanding competitor” as a runner by her teammates. Earning the title in the field was Theresa Conk, who reached a personal best in the pole vault.

“The pole vault was another good event,” said Court, “Julie [Shelky] and Aimee [Grimmelmann], as well as Theresa, put in great efforts.”

Shelky finished first with a vault of 8-06 while Grimmelmann took home fourth with a personal best, followed by Meghan O’Dowd and Conk in fifth and sixth, respectively.

The Bobcats also had a strong 400-meter race, with Ashley Wentworth taking first place, reaching a Division III qualifying mark with a time of 1:02.38. The sophomore was followed by Kirsten Terry and Kathleen Nugent, who placed third and fourth respectively, earning NESCAC qualifying marks.

Several Bobcats placed in multiple events. Sophomore Kirby Sabra won the long jump, and came in second in the triple jump and the 100-meter hurdles. Her triple jump of 34-6.75 was a personal record and Division III qualifier.

First-year Jen Caban, coming off an outstanding rookie campaign in the indoor season, also competed in three events, earning third places in the long jump and the 400-meter hurdles, and fourth place in the 100-meter hurdles.

Sophomore Ginny Yang also earned her coach’s praises.

“Here’s a girl who never did track before this year, and competed strongly in the [4 X 100-m] relay, the 100-meters, and the 200-meters. She really did a good job out there.”

In the end, Court was pleased with the entire team’s effort.

The Bobcats next see action at MIT, where they will take on local rivals Bowdoin and Colby in addition to one of the strongest teams in the conference, Tufts.

“There will be nothing easy about next week’s meet because there will be a lot of very, very strong teams there, including Tufts. There could be a few national qualifying performances at MIT. But we’ll go out and be competitive,” said Court.

The meet begins at 2p.m. on Saturday in Cambridge, Mass.




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