April 2, 2011
Complete Results
Williamsburg, Va. - The Navy women's outdoor track and field team (2-0) amassed 44 points to place sixth at the 46th Colonial Relays this weekend. Navy had 11 top-10 finishes and five ECAC-qualifying performances. Villanova took the women's title with 116.20 points and Patriot League-rival Bucknell was third with 59 points. Over 50 programs were invited to the meet and 40 teams scored at least one point.
"We were happy with our performance this weekend and we really stepped it up against a tough level of competition," head coach Carla Criste said. "Jess Palacio ran well in the 800m and the 1,500m against some really tough competition and Lauren Allam (discus), Jordan Kronshage (pole vault) and Kristin Smith (high jump) had really good performances as well."
Freshman Lauren Allam placed second in the discus with an ECAC mark of 149-6. It is the second straight week Allam has surpassed the ECAC mark in the discus and she is the current Patriot League Rookie of the Week. Freshman Maressa Guynn was 11th in the discus with a 127-7.
Junior Amanda Phelps placed third in the hammer throw. Phelps' best mark in the event was a 169-10 (51.76m) and this is the second time this season Phelps has surpassed the ECAC-qualifying mark in the event. Phelps also placed 11th in the shot put with a mark of 41-2¼.
Freshman Alix Membreno placed fifth in the javelin with a throw of 128-8.
Sophomore Kristin Smith placed second in the high jump with a clear of 5-7 (1.70m). Smith won the seeded heat, but a high jumper from an unseeded heat took first place. The height of 5-7 qualifies Smith for the ECAC Championship. Sophomore Melanie Sluzewicz and junior Christine Scales each cleared 5-3 to tie for 11th.
Sluzewicz led Navy's efforts in the long jump with a distance of 16-5 to place 28th and senior Ashley Bucholz was 35th with a 16-3¼. Sophomore Jordan Kronshage tied for fifth in the pole vault with a personal best clear of 11-1¾. Kronshage achieved her PR in the pole vault while going up against 30 mph wind gusts.
Junior Jess Palacio ran an outdoor personal best in the 800m with a third-place finish of 2:09.10. The time qualifies her for the ECAC Championship in her first 800m race of the outdoor season and it is also the fourth-fastest 800m time in Navy history. Two runners from Georgetown placed 1-2 in the event and the top-eight runners were all under the ECAC mark.
Palacio's previous outdoor PR in the 800m was a 2:09.85. Palacio ran a school record 2:05.89 in the indoor season this winter, which is a Navy school record.
Palacio also placed ninth in the 1,500m with an ECAC-qualifying time of 4:27.70. The time is the fifth-fastest ran in school history and it improves upon the 4:28.05 that she ran last weekend. Palacio already owns the school record (4:24.72) in the event. The top-10 runners in the 1,500m were all under the ECAC standard.
Junior Mansfield Murph placed 21st in the 400m dash with a time of 59.35.
Senior Bethany Rahall paced Navy's efforts in the 3,000m Steeplechase. Rahall placed 11th with a time of 11:23.63, a new personal best. Senior Anastasia Abid placed 12th at 11:50.71 and freshman Mary Jordan was 14th (11:52.37).
Freshman Aimee Brenner ran a 38:40.33 to place eighth in the 10,000m and sophomore Jacqueline Blackburn was 12th at 39:36.20.
The Mids had four runners place in the top-15 of the 3,000m run. Junior Katie Taylor was fourth (10:09.24), sophomore Brigid Byrne was seventh (10:15.40), junior Marina McGrail was eighth (10:16.82) and sophomore Liz Milewski was 11th (10:28.40).
Navy's 4x100m relay team of Ridgway, Ffrench, Smith and Littlejohn placed 14th with a 51.21. Smith, Ffrench, Murph and Fine ran a 4:10.80 to place 21st in the 4x400m relay.
Ridgway teamed up with sophomore Jenne Jolie, junior Amanda Bonilla and senior Erin Neumann to place 11th in the 1600m sprint medley relay (4:25.81). Ridgway, Ffrench, Smith and Jolie clocked a 1:47.04 for an 11th place finish in the 4x200m relay.
The Mids will next host the Army-Navy Outdoor Star Meet on Friday, April 8. The hammer throw will begin at 10:50 am and the rest of the field events will begin at 2:15. The running events will begin at 2:45.
The Army and Navy women will meet for the 25th time in outdoor Star Meet history. Army currently holds a slim 13-11 edge, but the Mids will be looking for their third straight indoor/outdoor Star Meet sweep in the series. Navy defeated Army, 103.5-77.5, for the indoor Star in West Point in February.
