Posted: Mar 24, 2012

Longvall, Ryan qualify for New England championships

In her first collegiate track meet, freshman Rebecca Longvall qualified for the New England Division III Championships in the javelin. She won the event at the Bears Invitational. Teammate Kayley Ryan also qualified for the New England championships in the 3000m Steeplechase.

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. - The Salve Regina University women's track and field program opened up its 2012 season with one of the best team efforts in recent history.

Freshman Rebecca Longvall (Boylston, Mass.) started the proceedings off with a New England Division III qualifying throw of 111'8" in the javelin for first place. She was followed by sophomore Kayley Ryan (Portland, Conn.) who clocked a 12:26.96 in the 3000m Steeplechase for second place and another NE Div III qualification.

In addition to Longvall, two other Seahawks claimed victory in their events as sophomore Alexa Bracco (Hauppauge, N.Y.) won the pole vault in a jump off with an 8'6" leap and freshman MaryElizabeth Pfund (Tenafly, N.J.) bested the field in the 100m hurdles in 17.11 despite hitting and breaking a hurdle.

In all, seven upper class women recorded nine collegiate bests including sophomore Karli Nunez (Hampton Bays, N.Y.) who placed third in the 400m hurdles. Also finishing high in the standings was freshman Kelsey Knight (Amherst, N.Y.) with a fourth in the hurdles and sophomore Ema Waldschmidt (Verbank, N.Y.) who was 8th in the 1500m.

Head coach Matt Hird remarked, "After 10 weeks of good training the team was excited for this meet and it showed. They put forth a great team effort with numerous collegiate and personal bests in only the first meet of the season. We are looking forward to significant improvements over the course of the season. Everyone deserved a 'Well done!'"

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