Lyons post five NCAA automatic qualifiers at All-New England Championships; Women take fifth overall while men finish 11th

May 10, 2003

DURHAM, NH- The Wheaton College men's and women's track and field teams posted strong finishes at the All-New England Championships held at the University of New Hampshire on Friday and Saturday. The women finished fifth overall among 33 scoring teams with 58.33 points, while the men tied for 11th place in the 38-team pool with 27 points.

All told, five athletes posted NCAA Division III national meet automatic qualifying marks and two shattered their own school marks. Senior Noreen Kordzeil (Chittenango, NY/Chittenango), juniors Amber James (Woodbury, MN/Woodbury) and Vernick Smith (Camden, NJ/Woodrow Wilson), and sophomores Kirsten Larsen (Hampden, MA/Minnechaug Regional) and Dan Olson (Voorheesville, NY/Albany Academy) all earned automatic qualifiers at the meet.

Kordzeil finished first in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 14.36, while James captured the 400-meter dash crown in 55.89. Olson was the other top competitor in his event, winning the men's high jump with an automatic qualifying leap of 6' 11". Rounding out the automatic qualifying marks was Larsen's school-record toss of 137' 11" in the javelin, breaking her old mark of 135' 5" from last season, and Smith's time of 55.80 in the 400-meter qualifying heat.

The women were bolstered by several scoring finishes. Sophomore Tessa Donoghue (Springfield, MA/Cathedral) posted a provisional mark with a second place finish in the 400-meter dash (56.95), as did senior Jana Bromell (Spencer, MA/David Prouty) in 57.18. Smith and junior Kim Spence (Barrington, NH/Dover) recorded provisional times of 1:02.59 and 1:03.30, respectively in the 400M hurdles. Senior co-captain Kristen Cullen (Stoneham, MA/Stoneham) finished seventh in the 100-meter hurdles, but not before she scored a provisional time of 14.80 in the preliminary heat.

First-year Aspen James (Woodbury, MN/Woodbury) finished seventh and eighth in the 100 and 200-meter dashes and qualified provisionally in the prelims, while freshman Christina Langevin (Wilbraham, MA/Minnechaug Regional) posted a school record in the 10,000-meter run with a time of 38:56.82. Sophomore Kathrine Wallace (Glenmoore, PA/The Hill School) and freshman Noelle Battista (Warwick, RI/Toll Gate) rounded out the provisional qualifiers in the high jump and pole vault. Wallace placed second at 5' 5" in the high, while Battista vaulted 10' 10".

The men were paced by Olson's top mark in the high jump and junior Tyrone McClain (New Haven, CT/Hillhouse), who finished fifth in the 100 and 200-meter dashes. Also scoring was junior Erik Benson (Southbury, CT/Pomperaug), who placed fourth in the 400-meter dash with a time of 48.95. The 4x400-meter relay finished fifth in a time of 3:19.68.

The men and women next travel to Springfield College in Springfield, Massachusetts to compete in the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Division III Championships. The meet begins on Friday, May 16 and finishes up on Saturday, May 17.

Last updated on 5/12/03.
Send questions about this page to Scott Dietz or contact Wheaton College.

News Headlines.

Wheaton reorganizes track and field staff, Souza and Mangiacotti named co-head coaches (more)

Three Wheaton track and field athletes earn national academic honors, both men's and women's squads draw accolades from USTFCCCA (more)

Three Wheaton track and field athletes meet NCAA standards, school record falls at ECAC Championship (more)