Results

EWING, NJ (April 10, 2010) -- With a balanced effort including six top-five finishes, the Vassar College women's track team showed continued progress against some of the most competitive teams in the region at The College of New Jersey Invitational. Sophomore Johanna Spangler had the Brewers' top finish of the day, a second place in the 3,000 meter event that was hotly contested down to the wire.

Spangler's time of 10:14.20 was only one of many strong performances from Vassar in the distance events. Others with strong races at the 3-kilometer distance included junior Brittany Davis and fellow sophomore Elizabeth Forbes. According to head coach James McCowan, Forbes “did an excellent job of running between the first and second packs, and kept closing the gap from her to the front as the race progressed. All three of our runners in the event bested their goal times.”

Forbes placed seventh with a time of 10:32.75, and Davis came in ninth in 11:12.69.

Vassar's hurdling duo of sophomore Katy Hwang and freshman Kate Warrick had gutsy performances, finishing side by side in both the preliminary and final of the 100 meter hurdles, as well as the 400 meter hurdles. Warrick took fifth in the 100 meter hurdles final, with a time of 17.79, with Hwang in sixth in 18.02, although her race was complicated by the runner in the next lane, who knocked over one of her hurdles. Hwang took sixth in the 400 meter hurdles in 1:13.53, with Warrick just 7/100 of a second behind.

Coach McCowan was also especially proud of the performance of freshman Emily Crnic, who scored points for Vassar by winning the second heat of the 400 meter event, placing fourth overall in a time of 1:04.72. “This was a big improvement for Em, and she's going to be a presence for us in the mid-distance events for years to come.”

Another strong team performance for Vassar came in the 1500 meter run. Freshman Kelly Holmes continued her strong season with a fifth place finish, scoring points with a time of 5:06.43. In her first 1500 of the season, sophomore Samantha Creath turned in a six second personal best, with an eighth place finish in 5:10.19. Sophomore Hannah Ziobrowski also set a major season best in the 1500 with a 10th place finish in 5:12.91.

“There were a lot of bright spots for us today,” said Coach McCowan. “This is the kind of positive momentum we need to take us into Liberty Leagues, and we're excited to get to run a championship meet in front of a home crowd next weekend.”

The Brewers will host the Liberty League Championships on Saturday, April 17.