McDonough, Gomes Set Marks to Lead Women's Track & Field at MASCAC Indoor Championships

NORTHAMPTON, Mass. -- Graduate student Alison McDonough (Halifax, Mass.) and junior Tristen Gomes (Middleboro, Mass.) broke their own school records in the long jump and triple jump, respectively, to lead the Bridgewater State University women's indoor track & field on Saturday at the MASCAC Championships held at Smith College.

The Bears, who won ten events on the day, placed second in the team standings with 169 points. Westfield State University won the MASCAC indoor title with 194 points. Fitchburg State University (87 pts.) rounded out the top three teams.

McDonough earned the MASCAC title in the long jump with a leap of 17 feet, 9.75 inches (5.43m) as she eclipsed her previous BSU indoor mark of 17 feet, 9.50 inches (5.42m) set last week at the Tufts Cupid Challenge. McDonough added a victory in the 60-meter hurdles with a finals time of 8.96 seconds.

Gomes won the conference championship in the triple jump with a leap of 36 feet, seven inches (11.15m) as she broke her own indoor mark of 36 feet, 0.25 inches (10.98m) also set last week at Tufts.

Graduate student Jailene Escalera (Rockland, Mass.) and sophomore Naomi Cass (Westport, Mass.) also captured a pair of conference individual championships for the Bears. Escalera won the 60-meter dash with a finals fime of 7.76 second and placed first in the 200-meter dash with a time of 25.81 seconds. Cass was the first to cross the finish line in both the mile and 1,000-meter run. She recorded a PR of 5:18.20 in the mile as well as a time of 3:12.52 in the 1,000.

Senior Serenity Sands (East Bridgewater, Mass.) posted a leap of five feet, 5.25 inches (1.66m) to grab the MASCAC crown in the high jump while junior Kiara Abrantes (Somerset, Mass.) placed first in the 400-meter dash with a time of 59.14 seconds.

The Bears' 4x200-meter relay squad featuring McDonough, Escalera, Abrantes and freshman Yvenaelle Jean (Brockton, Mass.) rounded out the Bears' conference champions. The foursome posted a season-best time of 1:47.84.

The Bears are back in action on Sunday, February 18th when they travel to Harvard University for the USATF New England Indoor Championship.