Complete Results
MEADVILLE, Pa. – Junior Lauren Butler was named NCAC Field Athlete of the Meet in leading the Gators to a surprising runner-up finish at the 2011 North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) Indoor Track and Field Championships. Allegheny pieced together a first-place finish in the distance medley relay to highlight the final day of competition.
Butler, who is a reigning two-time All-American in the javelin, authored the most dominant effort of the weekend after smashing a school, meet, and field house record in the shot put on Friday. She also finished fifth in the weight throw, which proved to be a key event for the Gators. Kristen Collins established a personal record with a toss of 42'2.25” en route to fourth place while Tova Feinberg closed eighth to snag the last scoring spot.
“It feels really great,” reflected a soft-spoken Butler. “This weekend was the first time I've qualified for indoor nationals and it was the second time in a row I was named Field Athlete of the Meet. The girls worked really hard and it showed as we had our best team finish at conference in five years.”
Freshman Deedee Evans sparked the Blue and Gold on the final day of the championships with a second-place finish in the long jump (15'11.75”). Evans provided flashes of a bright future after earning All-Conference marks in both horizontal jumps at her first postseason competition. Emily Norton also shined in the long jump, finishing third overall in 15'4.75.” The Gators capped their effort in the field with a fourth-place finish by Sarah Moss in the high jump (4'11.75”).
“I'm so proud of our jumpers, it's really hard to find the right words to describe what their performance meant to us this weekend,” said assistant coach Amy Mantush. “Our jumpers set the tone both days in the morning, and Dee Dee coming from behind on her last attempt to win the triple jump on Friday was incredible.”
Senior Beth Muller raced to a runner-up finish in the open quarter (59.11) while taking third in the 55m (7.52) and fourth in the 200m (26.72). Rebecca Lendyak won her sections in both the 55m and 400m while finishing fourth and sixth, respectively, in those events.
Senior Stephanie Alberico, who replicated her 2:24 run from Friday's prelims twice on Saturday, finished fifth in the open 800m. She also provided a key cog in Allegheny's winning distance medley relay. After a huge first leg by Sara Mitrano and a great quarter by Moss, Alberico maintained the Gator lead with her third great 800m of the meet. Sophomore Kelly Gallagher anchored the relay with a 5:22 mile as the Gators finished the race with a final time of 12:43.17.
An understandably emotional Alberico reflected on her tremendous weekend. “It was great to finish the season this way. It seems like I've been hurt for four years, and it feels great knowing that I had the best three races of my career to help the team achieve a great showing. The DMR was an incredible rush, and after Sara took us out with an awesome 12 (1200m), we were able to ride that momentum to the win.”
In the final individual race of the weekend, senior Katie Stancik finished fifth in the 3000m (10:30.83) while rookie Kristina Martin closed one place back in 10:36.12. Allegheny finished second overall in the team standings with a score 125. Ohio Wesleyan cruised to the team title with 228 points while Oberlin finished third with a total of 114.
“It's always a bit of a mystery going into the indoor season, because everyone is positioning for the spring,” noted head coach Brent Wilkerson .We really relied on our seniors this weekend, and they came through in major ways. Without performances like Stephanie's, there's no way we're getting second. And what can you say about Beth and Rebecca? Two hard days of work in six events were just unbelievable. The women's frame of mind was really positive and I couldn't be more proud.”