Winter, Sports

Roundup: Track And Women’s Tennis Team Kick Into Gear

Last Thursday, members of the Boston College women’s track team competed against Boston University, Sacred Heart, and the University of Massachusetts at the BU track and tennis center. While it was not a scored team meet, the athletes had a chance to flex their muscles as they head into the spring schedule. Top performers included sophomore Carly Daniel, who set a personal record of 1:17.16 in the 500-meter dash, enough for second place and to post a New England qualifying time. Freshman Christina Kyristis also had a qualifying time with a third place finish in 1:17.34.

In the 400-meter dash, Molly O’Dea finished fourth, followed closely by teammate Robin Gross, who came in fifth. Both met the New England standard time. Emma Sullivan finished second overall in the 800-meter race, and four runners had strong finishes in the 3,000-meter event-Elizabeth Predmore, Danielle Winslow, Amanda Rickert, and Margaret Mullins-taking third through sixth place.

The weekend’s work wasn’t over, though, as the women’s track team also competed in the Battle of Beantown, a meet comprised of five local colleges. As a team, the Eagles finished in fourth place, their efforts were led by a first place finish in the 4×880-yard relay, with Madeleine Davidson, Laura Hottenrott, Claudia DiSomma, and Katy O’Keefe finishing with a time of 9:26.66. Another relay team comprised of Daniel, Molly O’Dea, Camila Isern, and Christina Zelenoy took second in the 4×440 yard, and Davidson had the top individual finish for Boston College, finishing first in the mile. The next-best performance came from DiSomma, who finished second in the 800.

The men’s team also competed in the Battle of Beantown, coming in fifth place out of five teams with 38 points. Mitchell McGinty took first place in the high jump and Tim Ferris won the 800, but those individual performances weren’t enough to help BC past its competitors. Other top performers included Patrick Daly, who qualified for the IC4A Championship by finishing third in the 1,000, the 4×440 relay team, which took a fourth place finish, and the 4×880 team, which finished in second.

The women’s tennis team was also competing in some early-season local play without team scoring this weekend at BU. Heini Salonen and Sarah Dalton were both 3-0 in singles play, and Jessica Wacnik, Lexi Borr, and Katla Vasilyev dropped one match each. In doubles, the team of Wacnik and Borr went undefeated. The pair is ranked third in the Northeast Region.

Finally, the men’s and women’s ski teams participated in their second race of the season at Sugarloaf Mountain in the Colby Carnival. The Giant Slalom event took place on Friday, with the men’s side finishing three skiers, Trevor Lennox taking 27th place, Keith Schuman taking 28th, and Ryan Barney taking 32nd. On the ladies’ side, captain Michelle Solomon paced the Eagles with a 26th place finish, followed by Katie Cutting in 31st and Bug Pech in 33rd.

In the next day’s slalom event, the men faced similar challenges with two finishers, Chase Ryan and Schuman finishing in the top 30. For the women, Cutting finished in the top 20, followed by Taylor Burgart in 32nd and Katie Benjamin in 34th place.

January 23, 2014