Boston College Athletics
Boston College
New England Championships
Women's Track Claims Indoor New England Championship
February 27, 2005 | Women's Track & Field
Feb. 26, 2005
The women's track team ran away with the 4x800-meter relay and secured first place in the New England Championships on Saturday afternoon at Boston University.
The relay team of Mary Heitkamp, Melissa Sherman, Alexis Lake and Kristen Coon collected 10 points for the Eagles and put the team 12 in front of second-place Connecticut with just one event remaining. The time of 8 minutes, 58.73 seconds set the school record in the event and is more than 10 seconds better than the previous season high.
Sherman and Heitkamp also finished first and second, respectively, in the 800-meter run. Sherman's time of 2:11.70 is her top mark of the season and helped the Eagles earn 10 points. Heitkamp finished just behind her teammate with a time of 2:12.00.
BC had three individuals score in two different events - the mile and the 1,000-meter run. Coon earned a fourth-place finish in the mile with a time of 4:54.50. Lake finished sixth in 4:57.72 and junior Laurel Burdick was just behind her in 4:58.06. It was the first time this season the Eagles have had three runners break the five-minute mark in the mile. The three women combined for 10 points in the event.
Kathleen Smyth blew away the competition to become the New England champion in the 1,000 meters. Her time of 2:51.86 is the team's best this season and was more than four seconds better than the second-place runner from Boston University. The time is the second fastest in BC history. Senior Kellie Faircloth finished fifth in 2:59.46 and junior Anne Hessberg earned a point with an eighth-place mark.
Sophomore Kasey Hill ran BC's top time this season in the 55-meter hurdles with a mark of 8.23. Senior Liz Hassan was right behind her in 8.27. Hill and Hassan finished third and fourth, respectively.
In the pole vault, BC boasted three top finishers. Senior Saki Sugano finished second with as jump of 11 feet, 9.75 inches. Carolyn Rayburn and Megan Mara were third and fourth, respectively.
The Eagles claim the indoor New England Championship from Connecticut, who bested them by 15 points last winter. BC scored 125.50 points - 28.50 better than last year - on its way to victory.
The women return to action next weekend at the ECAC Championships, primed to improve on last year's 25th-place finish.
