School record set, three NCAA qualifications met by Wheaton at All New England Track and Field Championship

May 13, 2006

CAMBRIDGE, MA- Senior Kendra Leith (Holden, MA/Wachusett Regional) broke her own school record in the 5,000-meter run, and the Wheaton College women's outdoor track and field team met three NCAA Championship provisional qualification standards during the All New England Championship over the weekend at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's (MIT) Steinbrenner Track.

The Lyon women placed 14th out of 37 teams with 17.5 points, while Wheaton's men came in 33rd with three points. The Blue and White women were sixth among Division III squads and beat out six Division I teams during a meet won by the University of Connecticut, which accrued 229.25 points. On the men's side, the University of Rhode Island finished first with 124.5 points.

Leith finished the 5,000M in 17:46.31, eclipsing her own two-year-old program mark by 7.78 seconds and coming within 0.31 ticks of a provisional qualifying time. Junior Jennifer Harlow (East Bridgewater, MA/East Bridgewater) also had a strong showing over the weekend, tying for the second-best height in the high jump while finishing 0.12 seconds out of the final scoring position in the 100-meter hurdles. During the high jump, Harlow's leap of 5' 7" was a provisional qualifying standard for the NCAA meet and stood as the highest among Division III competitors.

Freshman Chizoba Ezeigwe (Brockton, MA/Thayer Academy) turned in a pair of seventh-place performances during sprint events, including recording a provisional qualifying time of 25.29 during the 200-meter dash, the second-best time among Division III runners. In the 100-meter dash, Ezeigwe came within 0.11 ticks of an NCAA provisional time with a 12.45 showing.

Wheaton's 4x400-meter relay foursome, comprised of Ezeigwe and fellow freshmen Natana Jules (Brooklyn, NY/Boys and Girls), Celeste Karpow (Wilton, CT/Wilton) and Christine Moreau (Lincoln, RI/Lincoln), turned in a provisional time by finishing fourth in 3:56.9. Ezeigwe, Harlow, Moreau and freshman Samira Sanders (Brooklyn, NY/Boys and Girls) joined to lead the 4x100-meter relay quartet to a sixth-place finish.

On the men's side, freshman Michael Wright (Baldwin, NY/Uniondale) completed the 100-meter dash in 11.1, which was just 0.1 seconds out of the last scoring position. Wright, senior Ajay Sisodia (Andover, MA/Andover), and freshmen Jonathan Cunha (Lexington, MA/Lexington) and Victor Martinez (Exeter, NH/Phillips Exeter Academy) combined on the Lyons' sixth-place 4x100-meter relay team, which finished in 43.00, exactly one second off a provisional qualifying time and just 1.15 behind the first-place foursome.

Both Wheaton teams return to action on Thursday and Friday at the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Championship at Springfield College.

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