Posted: Mar 28, 2015

Seahawks split the field at Coast Guard

Sophomore Sam Gisonni deals with the weather and steeplechase elements during women's track and field competition at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy and Connecticut College. (Photo by Jen McGuinness)

NEW LONDON, Conn. - The Salve Regina women's track and field team encountered another unusual weather related competition on Saturday, as snow removal issues at the Coast Guard track forced the running events to be held at nearby Connecticut College while the field events remained at the host school. However, even with each portion of the team being out of contact with the other, the team scored 30 points and finished sixth out of 12 teams. Even with weather which was cold and alternating between rain and snow, they scored numerous seasonal and personal bests.

Sophomore Kelsey Davidson (Duxbury, Mass.) opened the scoring with a tie for second place in the high jump, equaling her debut effort of the previous week at 4'8. Rebecca Longvall (Sr., Boylston, Mass.) took fifth in the javelin with a toss of 104'8" followed by Claire Manente (So., Southington, Conn.) in eighth with a 95'10' throw.

On the running side, sophomore Sam Gisonni (Hopewell Jct, Conn.) powered to a fifth place finish in her first 3000m steeplechase, crossing the line in 14:28.37. Next up was Olivia Wilson (Fr., Bethel, Conn.), recording a 5:15.44 1500m for eighth, only a second of her collegiate best. Next in the scoring column was junior Erin McCarthy (Walpole, Mass.) finishing sixth in the 100m in 13.34, easily her best century dash in a while and only .14 seconds off her collegiate best. The next scoring opportunity came in the 800m where Raquel Pouliot (Fr., Coventry, Conn.) improved her placing from a week ago, clocking 2:32.39 for seventh. Victoria Varone (Providence, R.I.) continued her tear in the 5000m, recording a personal best 18:59.07 for fourth place and improving 24.20 seconds from the previous week. The 4x400m team of McCarthy, Wilson, Taylor Donaldson (Jr., Clinton, Conn.), and Pouliot closed out the scoring with a seventh place, crossing the line in 4:30.04

Coach Matt Hird commented, "The way this team responded to the wretched weather and the unusual site issues was terrific. In addition to Kelsey and Samantha, five others recorded collegiate bests, some by huge margins. Claire and Ellen Gensicki (Jr., North Haven, Conn.) both threw a collegiate bests in the javelin, Shannon Holden (Jr., Hingham, Mass.), Jackie Ofria (Jr., Manchester, Conn.) and Jessica Graham (So., Lowell, Mass.) all PRed in the 5000m, Jess by a whopping 1:15.97. Spending that much time out in the cold, snow and rain usually has negative effects on performance but not with us today. I can't wait to see how we will do when the weather gets better, if it ever does."