Harmon Wins 5000, Simon Moves into Sixth in Division III in Pole Vault, at Whitworth Invitational

SPOKANE, Wash. - Riley Harmon finished in first place in the 5000 meters, and Brooke Simon moved into sixth place in NCAA Division III during indoor season in the pole vault (3.82 meters) as the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps women's track and field team was in action at the Whitworth Indoor Invitational on Saturday afternoon.

Harmon just barely edged out Jolene Whiteley of Division I Idaho at the finish line, crossing in 17:47.62 to win by just .27 seconds. 

Simon cleared 3.82 meters in the pole vault (12'6.25") which moves her into sixth in Division III in indoor season and puts her in great position to qualify for nationals next month. Meghan Matheny of Ithaca holds the top mark so far at 12'11", which she set last weekend.

Simon also officially finished second at the Whitworth Invitational, while tying Kolby Weiss of Division I Washington State for the highest clearance of the meet. Third place was a distant 11'8.5" (3.57 meters).       

Emily Clarke finished in fourth place in the 3000 meters in 10:01.39. Natalie Bitetti ran a 5:08.28 in the mile, taking first place in her section in the process. Caroline DelVecchio ran a 9.40 in the 60-meter hurdles, but just missed the finals (9.37 was the cutoff for the top eight) and a chance to improve her time. 

The Athenas will have one more qualifying meet at the University of Washington in two weeks as they try to earn their way to the NCAA Division III Indoor Track and Field Championships in Winston Salem, N.C. on March 11-12.