Salve Regina women's track and field wins CCC Invitational

PORTSMOUTH, R.I. - With 26 different athletes contributing to the scoring, Salve Regina University women's track and field team captured the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Invitational held at Portsmouth (R.I.) High School on Saturday.

Salve Regina totaled 191.50 points, nearly 50 better than closest competitor, and garnered first-place scoring finishes in eight events.

In throwing events, Seahawks dominated discus, hammer, and shot put with three different first-place finishers - sophomore Nora Donahue (Braintree, Mass.), junior Tiffany Davila (Greenville, R.I.), and freshman Mirasia Cassese (Newport, R.I.), respectively. Donahue's discus throw set a meet record.

Cassesse and senior Shannon Nuñez (Hampton Bays, N.Y.) also scored in discus at second and third, respectively. Sophomore Olivia Conway (Jefferson, N.H.), senior Chrissy Fraga (Milford, Mass.), Donahue, and sophomore Hayley Cambrola (Warren, R.I.) joined Cassese as scorers in shot put.

Davila led a Seahawk quartet from Rhode Island with top four marks in hammer throw. Freshman Athena Silva (West Warwick, R.I.) followed with Cambrola and Cassese next in line.

Even in javelin throw Salve Regina picked up a dozen points with Conway, Donahue, and junior Claire Manente (Southington, Conn.) claiming second, third, and fourth, respectively.

Freshman Natalie Kopiec (Manchester, Conn.) won both hurdle events (100 and 400 meters) while setting a meet record in the latter. Fraga, sophomore Alexa Cipkas (Granby, Conn.), and senior Emily Enoch (Amawalk, N.Y.) picked up points in their hurdles with Kopiec who missed qualifying for New England's by one hundredth of a second in the 100 meter hurdles.

Junior Victoria Varone (Providence, R.I.) competed in two distance runs and earned a dozen points while freshman Alex Demeo (Burlington, Mass.) also double-dipped for seven total points. Seniors Shannon Holden (Hingham, Mass.) and Aubrey Palmquist (Bristol, Conn.) added five and three points, respectively, in the 5000 meter and 3000 meter races. Junior Jessica Graham (Lowell, Mass.) contributed depth in the distance races with a point in the 5000 meter.

Senior Erin McCarthy (Walpole, Mass.) took first place in the 100-meter dash by .03 seconds. Freshman Caitlyn MacDonald (Marshfield, Mass.) split the last points with a sprinter from Roger Williams, both finishing in 13.84.

Senior Taylor Donaldson (Clinton, Conn.) and sophomore Megan Jenkins (Walpole, Mass.) scored in the 400-meter dash with four and two points, respectively.

In the 800-meter run, sophomore Raquel Pouliot (Coventry, Conn.) scored seven points and qualified for New England's. Fraga also earned a trip to Springfield, Mass., next week to bring the Seahawk travel contingent to seven competitors.

Senior Victoria Luerssen (Miller Place, N.Y.) had equalled the meet record in the pole vault (2.90m) before Ailya Lewis of Roger Williams bested the mark. Junior Samantha Whitaker (Smithfield, R.I.) scored four points in the event.

Lewis added to her first-place finishes in the long jump, but Salve Regina scored with Fraga, McCarthy, and freshman Erin Gunther (Sayville, N.Y.). Gunther added a first in the triple jump; earlier in the season she claimed the school record in the event.

Donaldson and Kopiec were on both Seahawk relay teams (100 and 400) and had MacDonald leading to McCarthy in the 100, while Pouliot led to sophomore Devin Smith (Ipswich, Mass.) in the 400.