Women's Outdoor Track Finishes Fifth At Division III New England Championships

Waterville, ME ---Sophomore Alyssa Jasper (Rockland, MA) finished as the runner-up in the heptathlon and senior Briana Wise (Worcester, MA/Burncoat) chipped in with a pair of All-New England performances as both helped lead the Worcester State women's outdoor track and field team to fifth overall at the Division III New England Outdoor Championships hosted by Colby.

MIT cruised to the win with 126.5 points followed by Tufts (93), Colby (75), Williams (73) as the Lancers were the top public institution at the outdoor meet for the second-consecutive season with 50 points.

Jasper finished the competition with the second-highest point total (4,151). She had the top finish in the javelin (129-10/39.50m), seventh in the long jump (15-0.75/4.59m) and 11th in the 800 (2:38.51).

Jasper's season-best in the heptathlon at Holy Cross (4,167) is currently 32nd in the NCAA Division III, just 174 points off of 1ualifying for Nationals.

Wise and Deininger both took home Division III New England laurels in their respective events for the second consecutive year. Wise was third in both the 100 (12.63) and 200 (25.51) while Deininger placed fifth in the 100 meter hurdles (15.21) and eighth in the 100 (12.75).

Sophomore Brittany Hodgerney (Leicester, MA) finished fifth in the 200 (25.65) for repeat Division III New England laurels while freshman Angelique Nurse (Auburn, MA) was eighth in the triple jump (35-2/10.72m).

Hodgerney was also 0.12 seconds off qualifying for the finals in the 100 with 11th and sophomore Cayla Leinonen (Spencer, MA) was just out of scoring, tying for ninth in the high jump (5-0.25/1.53m).

Second-year Alexandria McMahon (E. Longmeadow, MA) was also ninth (1:05.36) in the 400 meter hurdles followed by junior Megan Taylor (Danvers, MA) who added 14th (1:07.0).

In the 100 meter hurdles, sophomore Amanda Caldarone (Danvers, MA) timed 13th (16.13) and freshman Maddison Benson (Attleboro, MA) was right behind in 16th (16.15).

In the field, junior Hannah Werneth (N. Yarmouth, ME) was 10th in the shot put (36-02.75/11.04m) and 17th in the discus (111-10/34.09m) while freshman Hanna Carson (Natick, MA) was 13th in the shot put (35-07.75/10.86m).

The 4x400 meter relay team of Taylor, McMahon along with freshman teammates Emily Riehl (Trumbull, CT) and Dalena Le (Worcester, MA/Doherty) timed 11th with a split of 4:06.50 to finish off the meet. 

Next week select Lancers will compete at the Open New England Championships hosted by Stonehill.

Friday's Recap

Waterville, ME --- Sophomore teammates Alyssa Jasper (Rockland, MA) and Amanda Caldarone (Danvers, MA) both brought home top finishes in their respective events to help lead the Worcester State women's track and field team on the first day at the Division III New England Outdoor Championships.

With 20 team points, the Lancers are just three off MIT's leading total of 23 after four completed events.

Jasper claimed the javelin crown with her first throw of the final round with a mark of 144-8 (44.10m) while Caldarone won the long jump with her opening leap of the competition with a winning jump of 17-7 (5.36m).

The stellar performances by Jasper and Caldarone marked the second and third overall crowns in the field during the Outdoor Division III New Englands as Lancer Hall of Famer Francine LaPierre was the medal winner in the shot put in 1990.

Caldarone, who had her up her career-best leap this afternoon, was just out of the running as a freshman last year for All-New England honors in ninth (16-10.75/5.15m)

In the heptathlon, Jasper finished third overall with 2,451 points as her performance was highlighted by a breaking her own school record with the top toss in the shot put (12.23m/40-1.50). She was also fifth in the 100 hurdles (16.60) and fourth in the 200 (27.34).

Jasper wrapped things up by clearing 4-4.75 in the high jump (1.34m) as she was just 325 points off first place and 28 away from second overall. Jasper is looking to claim one of the 22 spots at the NCAA Division III Outdoor Championships at the end of the month.

Freshman classmates Courtney Spinelli (Tewksbury, MA) and Samantha Barron (N. Andover, MA) placed 16th (108-6/33.08m) and 17th (107-5/32.74m), respectively, in the javelin to round out the competitors for the Lancers.