By Katherine Harris
Writer
The women’s track and field team won the Patriot League Indoor Championships at Gerhard Fieldhouse last weekend, coming back from a 23-point deficit going into the final day of competition. The victory was the 14th in program history.
“I was absolutely thrilled with the team. I am so proud of everyone and I could not have asked for a better way to finish the indoor season,” Sarah Bella ’12 said. “Absolutely, having the championships at home was awesome. The energy from the crowd definitely helped the team and gave us the support we needed to go for the win.”
Bella led the way for the Bison as she grabbed their first victory of the weekend with a win in the shot put. Her 47’ 0.75’’ throw also put her second all-time in program history. Rebecca Misko ’12 also took fifth in the event for the Orange and Blue.
Emily Ando ’14 and Autumn Schellenberger ’14 took the top two spots in the pole vaulttook second and fourth respectively in the triple jump.
Caroline Tolli ’13 and Beth Braunegg ’14 took first and third in the 1000 meters, and Tolli added a third-place spot in the distance medley and a fifth-place spot in the mile.
“I am so proud of our team,” Tolli said. “Everyone contributed in some way to these wins and we are all excited about accomplishing our team goal. To win a championship is special; to win both at home was simply incredible!”
The Bison also excelled in the 800 meters as Hana Casalnova ’14, Chelsea Lodato ’14, and Emily Waksmunski ’14 placed second, fourth and fifth respectively. Other highlights for the Orange and Blue included second-place finishes by Taylor Funk ’12 in the 60-meter hurdles and Sasha Hornock ’13 in the 60 meters, and a team 4×400 meters victory.
The Bison finished with 164 points, 40 points ahead of No. 2 Navy, and head coach Kevin Donner won the Coach of the Year award. The team kept an undefeated record of having won six out of six Patriot League Indoor Championships at home.
“Our ladies did an outstanding job staying focused throughout the entire weekend and recognized the big picture of a three-day meet. Although we were behind by quite a few points after day two, we knew that Navy had completed their best events and that we were set up well for day three,” Donner said. “The cheering and crowd really helped our athletes and they will cherish this great accomplishment for the rest of their lives.”