Demeo joins Seahawks' list of New England qualifiers

FITCHBURG, Mass. - The Seahawks women's track and field team soared Saturday, finishing fourth among 16 teams, gaining another qualifier for the Division III New England Championships, and breaking two school records. Salve Regina University freshman Alex Demeo (Burlington, Mass.) joins teammates Shannon Holden (Hingham, Mass.) and Victoria Varone (Providence, R.I.) as qualifiers for the New England Championships in the 10,000-meter race with her mark of 41:17.24 at the Eric Loeschner Invitational hosted by Fitchburg State University.

Demeo started things off with a personal best in the 10,000m. Running virtually all alone with 54 split time targets written on her hand she surpassed the qualifying standard by three seconds over the race.

Natalie Kopiec (Manchester, Conn.) improved her New England qualifying time in the 400m hurdles and broke the school mark formerly held by teammate Chrissy Fraga (Milford, Mass.) in the process, cruising to a 67.65. A school standard was also broken on the 4 x 400m relay as the quartet of Raquel Pouliot (Coventry, Conn.), Taylor Donaldson (Clinton, Conn.), Kopiec, and Devin Smith (Ipswich, Mass.) broke the old mark by five seconds, recording 4:15.46.

"This was a great day," commented head coach Matthew Hird. "Every time I turned around our athletes were recording seasonal or personal bests. In fact, 70 percent of all the performances achieved for people who had competed in the events this season were seasonal bests."

Demeo was the first collegian across the line in the 10,000m, and Victoria Luerssen (Miller Place, N.Y.) bested all other collegians in the pole vault. Salve Regina University had second-place efforts from Kopiec in the 400m hurdles and Holden in the 5000m. Kopiec also finished third place finish in the 100m hurdles as did Varone in the 5000m.

Erin Gunther (Sayville, N.Y.) captured another third in the triple jump while 3000m steeplechasers Aubrey Palmquist (Bristol, Conn.) and Alexa Cipkas (Granby., Conn) secured fourth and eighth places in that event. Another fourth was also achieved by Pouliot in the 800m. Kelsey Davidson (Duxbury, Mass.) in the high jump and Smith in the 400m placed sixth in their events, while Samantha Whitaker (Smithfield, R.I.) took a seventh in the pole vault.

In addition to the 4x400m team finishing third, the 4x100 team of Caitlyn MacDonald, (Marshfield, Mass.), Donaldson, Kopiec and Erin McCarthy (Walpole, Mass.) nailed down a fourth-place finish.

Chrissy Fraga also garnered points as she competed in four events as part of the seven-event Heptathlon. She competed in the shot put (personal best), long jump (eighth place), 100m hurdles and 200m. She will compete in the final three events next Saturday as the Seahawks travel to Wesleyan University.