COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – The Ursinus College women's track and field team broke another school relay record and picked up one more medal on the final day of the Centennial Conference indoor championship on Sunday.
The Bears finished in fifth place, but were just 15 points behind runner-up Haverford in a tight bunch behind runaway champion Johns Hopkins. The Blue Jays rolled to another conference crown with 235.50 points. The Fords were second with 77, and right behind were Dickinson (74), Swarthmore (72), and Ursinus (62). Franklin & Marshall (55) was sixth, followed by Gettysburg (51), Bryn Mawr (37), Muhlenberg (22.50), and McDaniel (9).
Thanks in large part to a strong opening leg from junior Brittany Gasser, who handed off to classmate Riley Engel with a lead, the 4x800-meter relay team was able to edge out a school record that had stood since 2009. The quartet crossed the finish line in 9:57.49, just under a second better than the previous standard. Gasser and Engel were involved in two record-breaking relays, also establishing a new program benchmark in the distance medley on Saturday.
Speranza picked a perfect time for a PR in the high jump, registering a 4-9.75 to claim bronze in her indoor championship debut in the event. Fellow rookie Kateryna Swan matched Speranza at 4-9.75 to place fourth, giving the Bears 11 crucial points.
Speranza continued her impressive performance with a fifth-place finish in the 60-meter dash, where her time of 8.25 was good for a personal best.
Sophomore Kira Miller shattered her previous personal record with a 9.62 in the 60-meter hurdles, good for fourth place and five more points.
Ursinus had a pair of place-winners in the 200-meter dash. Freshman Michela Coleman notched a PR of 27.26 to win her heat and place sixth, while junior Catherine Buczek was eighth with her own individual benchmark of 27.45. Speranza came in 11th with a 27.74.
The Bears nearly got points from a trio of shot put entrants, but settled for an eight-place effort from junior Mikaela Bordonaro, who crushed her personal record by well over three feet with a toss of 35-8.50. Sophomore Sophia Simoes (35-6.00) was ninth, and freshman Vikki Rueda-Juarez was 10th with a career-best 34-8.25.
Buczek placed just outside of scoring range in the 400, finishing ninth in 1:02.25. Senior Jenna Kelly was close behind at 1:02.51 in 10th.
Swan just missed point-scoring range in the long jump, landing in ninth place with a 15-7.00.
The 4x400-meter squad comprised of freshmen Michela Coleman and Rachel Coleman, Kelly, and Buczek finished fourth 4:10.04.
