MEDFORD, Mass. - The Women’s Track and Field team competed in the New England Championships hosted by Tufts University this past weekend, breaking four school records in the contest.
Sophomore Katelyn Kotfila (Falmouth, Mass.) came from behind to grab a second-place finish in the Javelin Throw. Kotfila, who came into the meet ranked fourth in New England, got off to a rocky start with two sub-par throws in a row. On her third and final throw, she was able to clinch a seventh-place spot to earn a berth to the finals. On her final throw of the competition, Kotfila pulled off her second-best throw of the season (125’ 5”), putting her in second place and earning her All New England honors.
“I’m really happy for Katie,” said Assistant Coach Tom Conley. “In the beginning of the year she didn’t believe me when I told her how good she could be. Now that she is RWU Track & Field’s first women’s All-New England athlete, I think it is starting to sink in.”
The first record broken came from the 4x100 Meter Relay, where Emily D'Iorio (Peabody, Mass.), Maria LoBalbo (Bethel, Conn.), Kristen Metcalf (Londonderry, N.H.), and Meghan Krauss (Holliston, Mass.) finished 10th overall with a time of 50.7 seconds, which qualifies them for the ECAC Championships.
The second record to fall was in the 4x400 Meter Relay, where the new mark of 4:10.75 was good for 9th overall. At the 4x800 Meter Relay, Lauren Ashby (Manchester, N.H.), Lauren Riccardi (Reading, Mass.), Katie O'Koren (Franklin, Mass.), and Alexandra Honkala (South Royalton, Vt.) came together place 12th with a time of 10:16 and notch a new school record.
“The 4x8 team had to wait over six hours to run their race and they hung in there to break the school record by 22 seconds,” said Head Coach Sean Livingston. “I was glad they were able to run that well due to the long wait.”
The fourth and final record broken came from Maggie Blinn (Billerica, Mass.), who had the best jumps of her season, smashing the Triple Jump record with 10.6 meters and taking 15th place.
The women look to get back into action May 13th at Springfield College at the ECAC Championships for the first time in the history of the program.