Bitetti Sweeps 1500, 5000 but Athenas Track and Field Finishes a Close Third at SCIACs

CLAREMONT, Calif. - Natalie Bitetti won both the 1500 meters and the 5000 meters, leading a 1-2-3 finish in the 1500 with Riley Capuano and Laura Zimmer, but the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps women's track and field team just missed its eighth straight SCIAC title, finishing in third just eight points behind Redlands on Sunday at Strehle Track.

Redlands earned the team title with 185 points, with Chapman second with 182 and CMS in third with 177, before a big dropoff to fourth, where Pomona-Pitzer finished with 104 points. 

Madeline Seifert also won a SCIAC title in the pole vault with a top clearance of 3.50 meters (11'5.75") which finished 5.75 inches ahead of second-place Sarah Bjornson of Cal Lutheran. Seifert continues the CMS dominance of the pole vault title after All-American Brooke Simon won it the last two years. 

Bitetti won a close race with Capuano in the 1500, 4:28.22 to 4:28.52 in a battle between two teammates who were on the All-America podium in cross country, after finishing second and 11th, respectively. Zimmer wasn't far behind the top two as well, earning her way onto the podium with a 4:31.59, while Sadie Drucker also scored with a 4:39.39 to place fifth. 

Capuano and Zimmer were also on the podium in the 800 meters, where they finished second and third in 2:12.60 and 2:13.86, respectively. Capuano's time took over two seconds off her PR and moved her up from 10th to fifth in CMS history. Gaskell also scred with a 2:19.01 to place fourth, while Angie Gushue was sixth in 2:21.24. 

Bitetti won the 5000 meters in 17:29.40 was joined on the podium by Elle Marsyla, who came in second in 17:38.79, one day after winning the SCIAC title in the 10000 meters. Sara Wexler and Revere Schmidt also scored by finishing sixth and seventh. 

Shriya Velichala earned All-SCIAC honors in the 400-meter hurdles with a 1:04.53, just edging out Proud Kitnitchiva of Chapman by .06 for second place. Georgia Rogers earned All-SCIAC in the high jump with a top clearance of 1.52 meters (4'11.75"), which tied her with five others, including Simone Rogers, but Georgia Rogers finished third in the tiebreaker due to less misses at previous heights and Simone came in fourth. 

Katelyn Sewell scored in the discus by coming in fourth with a top throw of 130 feet, eight inches. Josephine Jett and Georgia Rogers scored in the 100-meter hurdles, finishing fifth and sixth, respectively in 15.27 and 15.72, respectively, while Jett added a seventh-place finish in the 100 meters (12.71). 

CMS will compete in several more events over the next three weeks as athletes try to earn qualifying marks for the NCAA Division III Championships, beginning with the Occidental Invitational on May 11.