COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – Morgan Cope and Mikaela Bordonaro each earned places to help the Ursinus College women's track and field team to a solid start on the first day of the Centennial Conference championship.
Hosting the outdoor championship for the first time since 2013, the Bears earned 5.5 points for the day and are poised for more with a strong effort from senior Katherine Damato in the heptathlon.
Cope earned her first career outdoor place at the conference meet with by tying for fifth in the pole vault. Entering as the fifth seed, Cope matched her personal projection with a mark of 9-5.75.
Also a place-winner at the outdoor championship for the first time, Bordonaro took seventh in the hammer with a massive personal record of 113-11. Bordonaro's third toss of the afternoon outdistanced her previous individual standard by almost 20 full feet and ensured that she vastly outperformed her seed projection of 17th to give Ursinus a pair of unexpected points.
Damato is well within medal range following the first four events of the heptathlon, ending the day in fourth place and just eight points out of third. The senior was third in the 200-meter dash (27.69), fourth in the shot put (28-9.25), and fifth in both the 100-meter hurdles (18.27) and high jump (4-6.75); she notched new personal bests in the shot put and hurdles.
Sophomore Alyson Manley was 12th in the 10,000 meters (45:03.36).
The championship ramps up with a full day of action on Saturday, beginning with the heptathlon long jump at 9:30 a.m.
