Women’s Indoor Track & Field GNAC Runner-Up at Inaugural Championships

BOSTON – In the first-ever GNAC Indoor Track & Field Championships, the Suffolk women's squad captured second-place Sunday at Boston University's Track & Tennis Center. 

The Rams' 114 team points came behind five individual conference champions and 16 personal-best performances. Suffolk finished behind the inaugural champion Emmanuel, who garnered 174 points. Saint Joseph's (Maine) took third with 61 points, while one point separated Regis (47) and Colby Sawyer (46) in fourth and fifth, respectively.  

Field events started the day with the first glimpse of glory coming in the shot put. Allison Rodrigues made history as the first Ram to take home an individual crown as the sophomore sunk a 11.39-meter throw to top the 21-competitor field. Savannah Hunter and Michelle Riley joined Rodrigues in the event with the pair each producing career-highs. Hunter's toss of 9.86 meters was good for seventh with Riley claiming 13th on an 8.36-meter throw.  

Later in the day Rodrigues had a podium finish in the weight throw. The North Andover, Massachusetts, product logged a personal-best of 11.91 meters to take third in the bakers' dozen field.  

In jumping events, Nicole DiBenedetto finished in the middle of the pack of the high jump. The Rams' rookie's third-place performance came off a career-high clearing of 1.46 meters. DiBenedetto recorded a personal-best in the triple jump as well with a leap of 9.28 to take fifth.  

Julia Hunt was also in the eight-athlete triple jump field. She took seventh on an 8.88 jump. The sophomore rounded out the blue-and-gold jumpers with a ninth-place performance in the long jump on a personal-best 4.26 hop.  

Hunt competed in the 60-meter hurdles as well. She qualified for the finals alongside her teammate Cassandra Kuechler. In the finals, Kuechler supplied a personal-best time of 10.51 to take fifth with Hunt one spot and 0.08 seconds behind her.  

Mariama Kamara had a standout showing in the 60-meter dash. The senior charted her first-ever sub-8.00, finishing 0.11 seconds ahead of second-place finisher, St. Joe's Kaylee Todisco, with a career-best time of 7.98 

Dakhensey Marcellus was also in the 16-runner field. The junior sealed up fifth with her own career-high performance of 8.55.  

The senior, sophomore twosome donned the blue-and-gold in the 200 with the paid tallying personal-bests alongside Kuechler, who had her own career-high. Kamara had a podium performance with a time of 27.67 good for third. Marcellus secured eighth with a time of 28.54 and Kuehcler completed the top-10 thanks to a time of 29.13.   

Emily Manfra ended the day as the most decorated Ram. The long-distance runner topped both the mile and 800 to capture conference champion status in both events. In the 800, the senior captain paced out the competition by turning in two laps in 2:24.47. 

In the mile, Manfra was one of four Rams to make up the 12-runner field. She took first thanks to a time of 5:10.51 with her classmate and co-captain Emma Weisse sliding into second in 5:19.49. Olivia Chilcott (5:33.69) and Mai Linh Vankirk (6:05.76) had personal-bests in the event to take sixth and 12th, respectively. 

Suffolk earned every spot on the podium in the 3000 with Weisse (11:08.66), Savannah Goddeeris (11:25.25) and Marin Stamer (11:45.25) going 1-2-3. Skyler Spanbauer's career-high 11:50.39 had the senior finish in the middle of the 10-runner pack with Natalie Fay (12:19.97) completing the Rams in the event with a ninth-place showing.  

The Rams fielded a 4x400 team with Chilcott, DiBenedetto, Goddeeris and Hunt combining for a 5:11.32 to complete the day-long championship event. 

Suffolk's season continues this weekend when a Rams' contingent heads to Harvard Sunday, Feb. 23 for the USATF New England Open Championships.