Lyons finish second and seventh at Tufts Invitational

February 8, 2003

MEDFORD, MA- The Wheaton College women's indoor track and field team posted a second-place finish of 197 points at the eight-team Tufts Invitational Saturday afternoon, which was 23.5 points behind host Tufts University. Scoring 53 points, the Wheaton men finished seventh in the 13-team field, also won by Tufts.

The women collected six first-place finishes on the day, including two by freshman Aspen James (Woodbury, MN/Woodbury). James started the day by capturing the 55-meter dash in an NCAA Division III national meet provisional qualifying time of 7.33. She followed that performance with a victory in the 200-meter dash in a time of 26.52. The Lyons continued to dominate the sprints when junior Vernick Smith (Camden, NJ/Woodrow Wilson) claimed the top spot in the 400-meter dash with a provisional time of 58.08. Rounding out the track victories for the Blue and White was freshman Kendra Leiths' (Holden, MA/Wachusett Regional) time of 18:28.66 in the 5000-meter run.

Wheaton collected two victories in the field events, as sophomore Kathrine Wallace (Glenmoore, PA/The Hill School) posted a jump of 5' 3" in the high jump, while freshman Noelle Battista (Warwick, RI/Toll Gate) vaulted 10' to capture the pole vault title.

The Lyons were also paced by second and third-place finishes in the 55-meter hurdles by senior captains Kristen Cullen (Stoneham, MA/Stoneham) and Noreen Kordzeil (Chittenango, NY/Chittenango). Cullen and Kordzeil posted provisional qualifying times of 8.53 and 8.60 seconds, respectively. Other strong performances came from freshman Aquila Williams-Judge (Boston, MA/Scituate), who recorded a provisional time of 58.70 in the 400-meter dash, and senior Jana Bromell (Spencer, MA/David Prouty) in the 400M, junior captain Kim Spences' (Barrington, NH/Dover) second-place results in the 600 and 1,000-meter events and runner-up marks from Wallace, Bromell and Cullen in the triple jump, shot put and pole vault, respectively.

The men were once again led by sophomore Dan Olson (Voorheesville, NY/Albany Academy), who turned in an NCAA Division III national meet automatic qualifying jump of 6' 10 3/4". This marks the fifth consecutive week that Olson has been the top collegiate finisher. Junior Terry Panetta (Hicksville, NY/St. Anthony's) also turned in a solid performance, recording a second-place finish in the 800-meter run with a time of 1:56.80. Junior Erik Benson (Southbury, CT/Pomperaug) placed third in the 200-meter dash, while freshman Justin Jin (Seoul, South Korea/Newton South [MA]) posted point-scoring performances in the 55-meter hurdles and long jump events.

The men and women will next take to the track this Friday and Saturday, February 14 and 15, when the Lyons travel to New York City to compete in the Armory Invitational.

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Upcoming Schedule

11-Jan Sun Dartmouth Relays 9:00am
16-Jan Fri Sorlien Invitational 12:00pm
23-24-Jan Fri-Sat Terrier Classic 11:00am