Smith, Mauro Provisionally Qualify for NCAA Championships

Results

DURHAM, N.H. --- Senior Rachel Smith (Somerset, MA) and Nicole Mauro (Mashpee, MA) have each qualified provisionally at the New England Intercollegiate Amateur Athletic Association (NEICAAA) meet hosted by the University of New Hampshire.

Smith placed third in the 400 meter hurdles with a time of 1:02.29 to beat the standard of 1:04.14 required while Mauro registering ninth in the 5,000 meter run with a time of 17:19.26. Mauro beat the time of 17:35.00 to make it to the outdoor championships.

If both times are good enough they will punch their tickets to the NCAA Division III Outdoor Championships hosted by the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh in two weeks.

If Smith's time qualifies for the meet, she will make her second appearance in the last three years to the NCAA's. In 2006, Smith finished in 15th in the seven-event Heptathlon at the NCAA Division III Outdoor Championships at Benedictine University in Illinois. She placed first in the 800 meter run (out of 19 competitors) and third in the high jump.

With Smith’s time in the 400 meter hurdles, it marks the third time this season that she has broken the school record. She eclipsed the 29-year old standard that was previously held by Lee Gifford (1:04.7) last week at the New England Division III Regionals and yesterday in the third heat of the pretrials.

Mauro shaved one minute and forty seconds off of her previous season best when she captured the New England Alliance Title in the 5,000 meter run (18:49.97) just two weeks ago. Mauro’s time was only ten seconds off of the school record that was set by Debbie Mueller in 1982 (17:09.2).

If Mauro qualfies, she will become the first athlete in the history of Bridgewater State to compete at the NCAA Division III Cross Country, Indoor and Outdoor Championships in the same season. Mauro finished in 135th out of the 280 competitors at the 6k course St. Olaf, Minnesota and in 11th at the Indoor Championships in the 5,000 meter run at Ohio Northern.

Bridgewater State College finished the NEICAAa meet in 26th place with eight points while Boston College was the meet winner with 131 points.

Select members of the Women’s Outdoor Track and Field team will compete at the ECAC New England Championships in next week at Springfield. The action begins on Friday at 10 A.M. for the two-day event.
 

Release written by Steven M Miller, Jr --- Sports Information Correspondent