WENHAM, Mass. – The Roger Williams University Women's Track & Field team clinched The Commonwealth Coast Conference Championship in convincing fashion Saturday, winning the event by a 120-point margin.
Kristen Metcalf (Londonderry, N.H.) was the high point scorer of the meet by scoring 31 individual points including three individual titles and was a member of both winning relays, giving her an additional 20 points.
Kathryn Swanson (Stoneham, Mass.) continued to drop time off her school record, as she placed 2nd in the 100-Meter Hurdles with a New England Division III qualifying time of 17.37 seconds.
In the 100-Meter Dash teammates Metcalf and Maria LoBalbo (Bethel, Conn.) finished 1st and 2nd with impressive times into a slight headwind. Metcalf's time of 13.06 broke her own school record which she set last year, and LoBalbo's time of 13.12 was faster than the previous school record of 13.18. Both times qualify for the New England Division III Championships.
In the 200-Meter Dash, it was another win for Metcalf as she finished with a New England Division III Championship qualifying time of 26.73, while teammate Meghan Krauss (Holliston, Mass.) finished right behind her in 2nd with a time of 27.69. Wrapping up the event was Emily D'Iorio (Peabody, Mass.) who ran a season best of 28.27 to finish in 4th.
The Hawks took the top three spots in the 400-Meter Dash, led again by Metcalf who finished with a school-record time of 1:00.83. LoBalbo followed in 1:03.87, with teammate Maggie Blinn (Billerica, Mass.) coming in 3rd at 1:04.63. D'Iorio wrapped up the scoring for RWU by running a 1:05.81 to finish in 6th.
In the 400-Meter Hurdles, the Hawks reaped the benefits of their depth with a 1-2-3 finish. Blinn won the event in 1:10.21, which lowers her own school record, while teammates Swanson and Giliann Collins (Stoneham, Mass.) finished 2nd and 3rd with respective times of 1:12.30 and 1:12.97. Placing 5th for RWU was LoBalbo, who ran a season-best time of 1:15.29 despite having to run in back-to-back events.
In the 4x100 teammates Metcalf, D'Iorio, LoBalbo, and Lindsey Joyce (Tyngsboro, Mass.) came together to win a conference title in a time of 51.62 which breaks the old school record of 52.00 which was set earlier in the year.
The Hawks continued their impressive performance in the jumps, starting out with a runner-up finish in the Pole Vault by Danielle Bailey (Mountain Lakes, N.J.). At the Triple Jump, Katlin Florin (Woodbury, Conn.) won the event with a New England qualifying mark of 10.51 meters. Placing second was Blinn with a jump of 10.37 meters, also a New England Division III qualifying mark.
In the Long Jump, Florin earned another win after clearing a distance of 4.99 meters, breaking her own school record of 4.75 meters and qualifies her for the DIII New England Championships. Blinn finished second with her best jump of the year at 4.78 meters, whil Metcalf took 6th at 4.31 meters. Florin also grabbed another win in the High Jump, clearing 1.45 meters.
Roger Williams will send its qualifiers to the New England Division III Championships this Friday and Saturday at Tufts University.
