Wheaton pair wins 5,000-meter events at Snowflake Classic

April 1, 2006

MEDFORD, MA- Senior Kendra Leith (Holden, MA/Wachusett Regional) and sophomore Pat Benson (Foxboro, MA/Bishop Feehan) won the women's and men's 5,000-meter events, respectively, to highlight the Wheaton College outdoor track and field teams' competition at the Snowflake Classic Saturday at Tufts University's Dussault Complex. The Lyon women placed sixth out of 16 teams with 52.5 points, while the men placed ninth among 17 with 32.5 points. Division I Dartmouth College took home both team crowns.

Leith paced the 5,000-meter field in a time of 18:02.26, leading Wheaton's strong performance in the event. Sophomore Megan Brousseau (Attleboro, MA/Attleboro) placed third, while freshmen Amanda Rawson (Dudley, MA/Shepherd Hill Regional) and Lauren Reddy (Walnut Creek, CA/Carondelet) and junior Jennifer Ziello (Litchfield, CT/Litchfield) placed eighth through 10th, respectively.

Wheaton's 4x400-meter relay foursome, comprised of freshmen Lily Calderwood (Harvard, MA/Bromfield School), Natana Jules (Brooklyn, NY/Boys and Girls), Celeste Karpow (Wilton, CT/Wilton) and Emily Piuggi (West Windsor, NJ/West Windsor-Plainsboro South), placed second, just 3.14 seconds behind the winning quartet from Bates College. Another pair of freshmen found success in track events, as Samira Sanders (Brooklyn, NY/Boys and Girls) placed sixth in the 100-meter finals and Morgan Jamiel (Warwick, RI/Toll Gate) missed out on qualifying for the 100-meter hurdles finals by 0.14 seconds.

Sophomore Cassandra Migani (Brooklyn, CT/Norwich Free Academy) turned in a pair of top-five finishes during field events, placing second in the javelin and fifth in the discus. Junior Katelyn Teixeira (Seekonk, MA/Seekonk) finished fourth in the javelin, while freshman Alexis Tabor (Seekonk, MA/Moses Brown School) was sixth.

On the men's side, Benson led a successful contingent of 5,000-meter runners for Wheaton, finishing first in 15:46.18. Senior Eric Richardson (East Walpole, MA/Bishop Feehan) came in fifth, while junior Eric Peirce (Lincoln, MA/Lincoln-Sudbury Regional) turned in a ninth-place showing.

Freshman Jonathan Cunha (Lexington, MA/Lexington) used a third-place finish in 15.24 during the preliminaries of the 110-meter hurdles to qualify for the finals, where he finished second in a time of 14.95, just 0.01 seconds off a seven-year-old school record. Cunha was also 0.04 behind the top finisher. Classmate Albi Skenderi (Glendale, NY/Grover Cleveland) also qualified for the 110M hurdles finals, placing seventh.

Senior Ajay Sisodia (Andover, MA/Andover) and freshman Victor Martinez (Exeter, NH/Phillips Exeter Academy) each made the 100-meter dash finals, where Sisodia placed third and Martinez eighth. During the 4x400-meter relay, the foursome of seniors Ryan English (New Hartford, CT/Northwestern Regional) and Ross Kahill (South Portland, ME/South Portland), junior Mark Tabah (Rolling Hills, CA/Palos Verdes Peninsula) and freshman Brian Dundon (Mansfield, MA/Mansfield) placed fifth.

Next Saturday, both Wheaton teams are slated to compete at the Bryant Invitational in Smithfield, Rhode Island.

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