By Jim Fenton

GENEVA, Ohio -- The Bridgewater State University women's 4x100-meter relay team finished the outdoor track & field season in style Saturday afternoon.

The Bears placed sixth at the NCAA Division III Championships at the Spire Institute & Academy to receive first-team All-American honors.

The relay squad consists of graduate student Alison McDonough (Halifax, Mass.) followed by senior Kiara Abrantes (Somerset, Mass.), freshman Grace Inacio (Taunton, Mass.) and graduate student Jailene Escalera (Rockland, Mass.).

BSU began its stay in Ohio this week seeded last in a field of 16 teams, and, after having the fourth-fastest time in the preliminary race on Thursday, finished sixth in the country.

The top eight finishers in each event are named first-team All-Americans while the teams that place ninth-16th are on the second team.

This is the first time that BSU has sent a women's relay team to the national championship meet.

BSU ran the final race in 46.33 seconds, just off the school record of 46.30 the Bears ran on Thursday in the preliminaries. They finished just ahead of seventh-place John Carroll.

The group had broken a school record in three consecutive meets -- at the New England Intercollegiate Amateur Athletic Association and MIT Qualifier and the NCAA preliminary race -- prior to Saturday.

McDonough, Abrantes and Escalera had been racing together since 2022 and won a pair of Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference championships.

The addition of Inacio in her first collegiate season gave BSU the boost it needed and helped get the Bears to the national stage.

The race was won for a second year in a row by Wisconsin-La Crosse, which broke the Division III and meet record with a time of 45.20, breaking the mark of 45.60 set in 2023 by Loras College of Iowa.

Wisconsin-La Crosse won the event in 46.12 a year ago in Myrtle Beach, S.C.

Also finishing ahead of BSU were Elmhurst (45.41), Wisconsin-Whitewater (45.55), Washington University (45.57) and SUNY Delhi (46.08).

The three teams behind the Bears were John Carroll (46.34), Wisconsin-Eau Claire (46.56) and Colby College (46.63).

McDonough and Escalera ran their final race for the Bears. McDonough earned second-team All-American honors, finishing 16th in the 100-meters hurdles in her sixth trip to the NCAAs.

Abrantes may return for the 2025-26 indoor season while Inacio has three years of eligibility.

BSU received three points in the standings through the efforts of the relay team.