CMS Women's Track and Field Opens with Strong Showing at OIDFE Challenge

CLAREMONT, Calif. - Seven different Athenas won individual events and the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps women's 4x400 relay team added an eighth win at the OIDFE Challenge Meet on Saturday at the Burns Track and Field Complex, signifying the start of the 2020 spring season.

The tri-meet with La Verne and Whittier was set up with an indoor track and field format, including the 60-meter dash and the 60-meter hurdles in place of the 100-meter outdoor distances, while the throwing events included the shot put and the weight throw. Impressively, four of the individual winners for CMS were first-years, as Megan Maley earned a first-place finish in the 800 meters (2:34.16), Caroline DelVecchio earned the top spot in the 60-meter hurdles (9.30), Brooke Simon came in first place in the pole vault (12'1.25"), and Sophie Grossman captured the weight throw (29'9.5").

Seniors Sabrine Griffith and Amanda Mell, who qualified for the NCAA Division III Championships last year in the long jump and triple jump, respectively, started off their senior year with wins in their specialty events as well. Griffith earned the long jump with a top distance of 17'4.25", just edging out junior Grace Pratt by a quarter inch, while Mell won the triple jump with a top distance of 34'6.25", just beating out junior Carolyn Weisman by two inches. 

In the shot put, senior Marika Morelan added to the CMS win total with a top distance of 34'7", while senior Amanda Gallop was second and Grossman was third. CMS also went 1-2-3 in the pole vault with junior Ariel Sepulveda finishing second behind Simon while sophomore Robin Peterson was third, and 1-2-3 in the hurdles, with Griffith and junior Aubrey Egerter coming in behind DelVecchio. 

The relay team of Pratt, first-year Mikaela Lipsky, DelVecchio and Egerter capped off the meet with a win in a final time of 4:16.98, while the second-place finishing team was also from CMS (Julia Drooff, Angie Gagnon, Bridget McCarthy and Weisman). 

CMS will be back in action next week for its annual alumni meet before returning to intercollegiate competition on Feb. 15 at the Pomona-Pitzer All-Comers Meet. The Athenas will then host the annual Rossi Relays at the Burns Track and Field Complex on Feb. 22, beginning at 10:30 a.m.