Women's Track & Field Places Second at MASCAC Indoor Championships

GORHAM, Maine – Depsite winning 12 of 19 events, the Bridgewater State University women's track & field team placed second at the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) Indoor Track & Field Championships held on Saturday at the University of Southern Maine.

The MASCAC Championships were held in conjunction with the New England Alliance Championships.

The Bears, who also placed second in the New England Alliance standings, finished with 222 points as they were edged out by Westfield State University (227 pts.) for the team title. Worcester State University (63 pts.) rounded out the top three MASCAC teams.

In the Alliance standings, host Southern Maine captured the meet title with 152.5 points. Bridgewater followed with 129.5 points, while Westfield placed third with 102 points.

Sophomore Jayci Andrews (Plymouth, Mass.) captured three individual MASCAC titles and was part of two MASCAC champion relay teams.

Andrews won both the MASCAC and Alliance titles and eclipsed the Bears' school indoor record in the 55-meter hurdles as she posted a finals time of 8.50 seconds. Andrews broke the previous mark of 8.71 seconds set by Rachel Smith in 2005.

Andrews tied her own school indoor record in the 200-meter dash with a MASCAC winning time of 26.37 seconds. She also recorded a leap of 17 feet, 1.5 inches (5.22m) in the long jump to place first among MASCAC jumpers.

The Bears' 4x400-meter relay squad featuring Andrews, seniors Amanda Lane (Abington, Mass.) and Traci Perry (Middleboro, Mass.), and freshman Tess Miller (Uxbridge, Mass.) won both the MASCAC and Alliance titles with a time of 4:07.51.

Andrews, Miller, Lane and Perry also captured the MASCAC title in the 4x200-meter relay with a time of 1:47.69.

Lane added a MASCAC title in the 400-meter dash (1:01.11), while Perry won the MASCAC crown in the 55-meter dash with a finals time of 7.59 seconds. Perry was just 2/100 of a second off her own school mark of 7.57 seconds set in 2014.

Senior Kristyn Grattan (Hanover, Mass.) rounded out the Bears' MASCAC track champions with a time of 3:12.05 in the 1,000-meter run.

Senior Sheila O'Sullivan (Westwood, Mass.) highlighted the field events as she captured both the MASCAC and Alliance championships in the weight throw with a school-record toss of 50 feet, 4.75 inches (15.36m). O'Sullivan eclipsed Melissa Chiasson's previous mark of 50 feet, 3.5 inches set in 2013.

Seniors Sydney Bennett (North Attleboro, Mass.) and Samantha Richner (Hanson, Mass.) also won MASCAC and Alliance titles for the Bears. Bennett recorded a mark of 41 feet, 10.5 inches (12.76m) in the shot put, while Richner posted a height of five feet, 3.75 inches (1.62m) in the high jump.

Sophomore Molly McNamara (Hull, Mass.) rounded out the Bears' MASCAC individual champions in the triple jump with a leap of 34 feet, 8.25 inches (10.57m).

Next weekend, qualifying members of the BSU women's indoor track & field team will compete at the Division III New England Championships hosted by MIT.