Cope Breaks Pole Vault Record

Cope Breaks Pole Vault Record

LANCASTER, Pa. – Morgan Cope broke a program record and Brittany Gasser came up just short of another as the Ursinus College women's track and field team opened the indoor season with an eye-opening performance at Franklin & Marshall's Diplomat Open.

Cope's clearance of 10 feet, 6 inches was good for third place overall and outdistanced the previous school record of 10 feet set by Elizabeth Cooley in 2014. It was also more than nine inches clear of her former personal best.

Gasser turned in a sensational effort in her first race of the new campaign, logging a time of 2:21.47 to fall just .21 seconds shy of the all-time indoor mark established by Christa Johnson in 2009 and edge by .07 seconds her previous personal best from the Valentine Invitational in 2016. Gasser was second in a field of 31 runners.

Junior Sophia Simoes registered a new personal best in the weight throw (12.29m), cracking 40 feet for the first time in her career. Simoes posted a toss of 10.66 meters in the shot put, where rookies Kamil Nazih (9.56 meters) and Zenya Yanoff (9.07 meters) competed for the first time.

Sophomore Michela Coleman notched a mark of 27.84 seconds in her 200-meter dash opener, just over half a second behind her PR from last year's Centennial Conference indoor championships.

Senior Caroline Buckley finished ninth in the triple jump (9.83 meters).

The track and field teams resume action after winter break, when they host the annual Collegeville Classic on January 19.