Ksepka Qualifies for NE Championships at Reggie Poyau Invite

WALTHAM, Mass. – The Regis College women's track and field team traveled Saturday to compete in the Reggie Poyau Invitational hosted by Brandeis University.

Liz Ksepka (Calais, Vt.) would win the shot put on an 11.50-meter throw, and with the new personal record she qualified for the Division III New England Championships. The Pride would place three within the top five, with Elliana Boebel (Bedford, Mass.) and Elisabeth Cooke (East Longmeadow, Mass.) finishing fourth and fifth respectively.

In the weight throw, Ksepka would again win the event and qualify for the New England Championships with a distance of 14 meters, followed by teammates Boebel in second with a 12.29-meter throw and Cooke in third with an 11.78-meter throw.

In the 60 meter dash, senior Cassandra Froio (Tewksbury, Mass.) would finish eighth and set a new personal record of 8.57. Emily Fagundo (Dover, N.H.) would finish in the in the top 15, just missing out on a personal record by 1/100th of a second with a time of 8.77.

Ashleigh Kelley (Stoneham, Mass.) and Erin Kelley (Stoneham, Mass.) would race in the mile for the Pride. Ashleigh Kelley would finish in fourth in the race, breaking her previous personal record with a time of 5:46.15. Erin Kelley would finish in eighth with a time of 5:58.06, beating her previous personal record by a little over 1.45 seconds.

The 400 meter saw several athletes compete. The leader of the pack for the Pride was Lourdes Jean-Louis (Haiti), who finished with a time of 1:06.90 for a new personal record while finishing in seventh. Fagundo would also put in a top-10 performance, finishing in 10th with a new personal record of 1:09.62. Froio, Erin Sheehan (Pembroke, Mass.), and Desiree Jones (Oceanside, Calif.) all finished inside the top 15, while Karen Di (Lowell, Mass.) also broke her personal record with a time of 1:13.92.

Southern Maine would win the meet with 121.50 points, while host school Brandeis would follow with 118 points. Regis would finish in fifth, collecting 48 points in the eight-team meet.

The Pride will be back in competition next weekend at the Smith Invitational hosted by Smith College on Saturday, Jan. 19.