ALLENTOWN, Pa. – A pair of gold medals from Isabelle Deal helped spur the Ursinus College women's track team to one of its best showings in recent history at the Centennial Conference outdoor championships.
The Bears finished in third place for the first time since 2012, posting 122 points in a stellar performance that featured seven medals and a herculean effort from the throwers.
Deal was sensational, capturing conference gold in the shot put and javelin; she became the first Ursinus woman to win the javelin since Kelly McCarthy in 1996 and the first to take the shot put since Rachelle Pecovsky in 1997.
Deal won the javelin by 2 feet, 6 inches over Hopkins' Veronica Montane with a mark of 136-6, good for a new personal best. The toss left her a little more than a foot short of Sandy Wirth's program record, which has stood since 1983, and is currently No. 10 on the Division III performance list.
Deal led a 1-2-4 showing for Ursinus in the shot put with a mark of 38-4 to edge rookie teammate Jacqueline Allen's massive PR of 37-10.5, which was easily enough to claim the silver medal. Hannah Bierling placed fourth at 34-3.5.
The Bears' other gold medal came in the 4x100-meter relay, where Rachel Coleman, Kate Hunt, Katy Jenkins, and Dominique Timmons edged Johns Hopkins by .05 seconds with a clocking of 49.85 in a thrilling heat. It was the first gold in the outdoor 4x100 relay for the Bears since 2011, and only the second in program history.
Vikki Rueda-Juarez collected silver in the discus throw, unleashing a career-best mark of 120-10 to land behind only Dickinson's Abby Everett. Catie Owens placed fifth with a personal-best 103-6, while McCall was seventh (career-high 102-8) and Bierling eighth (PR 100-11).
Jenna Lozzi was a silver medalist in the 3000 meter steeplechase, finishing the course in a career-best 12:52.79. Samantha Grubb finished fourth at 13:08.04.
Rachel Coleman, Timmons, Hunt, and Holly Chambers earned bronze in the 4x400 relay, crossing the line in 4:12.87.
Chambers, Katherine Moore, Neve Durrwachter, and Julia Pierson placed fourth with a 10:16.26 in the 4x800 relay.
Hunt placed fourth in the 100 (12.87), where Timmons was seventh with a personal-best 13.05. Hunt was also just outside of scoring range in the 200, finishing ninth in 27.38; Timmons was 10th at 27.67.
Jenkins earned fourth place with a PR 1:11.41 in the 400 hurdles, with Moore right on her heels in fifth on a career-best 1:12.39. Jenkins also notched a place in the long jump, taking eighth at 15-7.75.
Lauren Ferguson nearly grabbed a podium spot in the 10k, finishing just over six seconds out of third place with a PR 40:16.28.
Esther Akande finished fifth in the triple jump with a 32-9.75.
Coleman secured an eighth-place finish in the 400 at 1:02.11.
