ALLENTOWN, Pa. Led by five medal-winning performances, the Gettysburg College women’s track and field team had an outstanding day and placed fourth at the Centennial Conference Championships, hosted by Muhlenberg College. This is the second time in four years the Bullets have finished in the top four at the conference meet.
Gettysburg’s Top Performers
- Diana Bianco Riley ’21 (Seekonk, Mass./St. Mary Academy Bay View)
- Hammer 3rd (120-10 PR, seventh all-time)
- Kathrin O’Brien ’22 (Lynchburg, Va./Virginia Episcopal School)
- 10,000-Meter-Run 3rd (40:10.15)
- Katherine Mangione ’22 (Doylestown, Pa./Villa Joseph Marie)
- Discus 3rd (110-06)
- Holly Ferrara ’24 (Holland, Pa./Council Rock South)
- Javelin 3rd (120-02)
- Alexa Schauder ’24 (Cedar Knolls, N.J./Whippany Park)
- Pole Vault 3rd (9-00.25)
Meet Highlights
- Bianco Riley had her best hammer performance of her career at the conference championship as she heaved a personal-record mark of 120-10 to grab her first career bronze medal. Entering into today’s event, she ranked eighth on the program’s all-time top-10 list and now moves into the seventh slot. Junior Jessica Alessi (Nassau, N.Y./Ichabod Crane) also competed in the event and placed fifth with a 115-02 mark.
- O’Brien collected her first career bronze medal after clocking a 40:10.15 time in the 10,000-meter run. Sophomore Amanda Addesso (Cheshire, Conn./Cheshire) also competed in the event and placed fifth with a time of 41:54.20.
- Ferrara launched her best attempt on the final throw in the javelin (120-02) to register her first bronze medal out of 14 competitors. Mangione placed right behind in fourth with a throw of 115-07.
- Schauder notched a mark of 9-00.25 in the pole vault to earn her first conference bronze medal and junior Caitlin Yap (Wayne, N.J./Morris Catholic) placed seventh (8-00.50).
- Mangione posted a PR mark of 110-06 in the discus to earn her first career conference bronze medal. Bianco Riley also competed in the event and placed sixth with a PR toss of 102-10.
- In the high jump, junior Anna Pienkos (North Haven, Conn./Sacred Heart Academy) just missed earning a medal as she tallied a mark of 4-10.50 to finish fourth and Schauder took fifth with a 4-08.75 mark.
- Sophomore Lily Morrell (Frederick, Md./Urbana) just missed the top-three in the 200-meter dash as she placed fourth with a PR time of 26.59. The time now ranks eighth all-time on the outdoor top-10 list at Gettysburg.
- The 4×100-meter relay team of senior Alexa Kerprich (Dresher, Pa./Upper Dublin), sophomore Anna Lopez (Lutherville Timonium, Md./Dulaney), sophomore Julia Piness (Chatham, N.J./Chatham), and Morrell recorded a time of 53.52 to place fourth.
- In the 100-meter hurdles, sophomore Julia Piness (Chatham, N.J./Chatham) collected a time of 17.56 to finish sixth. Piness also competed in the 400-meter hurdles and placed seventh (1:13.10).
- The 4×400-meter relay team of freshman Emily O’Hara (Chester Springs, Pa./Downingtown), sophomore Julia Wert (Harrisburg, Pa./Central Dauphin), junior Amy Cantrell (Hailey, Idaho/Wood River), and junior Georgia Larzelere (Medford, N.J./Shawnee) registered a 4:14.40 time to place fourth.
- Cantrell claimed eighth-place in the 800-meter run out of 16 competitors.
- The Bullets scored 77.5 points and finished fourth out of seven teams. They beat out Franklin & Marshall College (58), Muhlenberg College (53), and McDaniel College (21). Johns Hopkins University won its 11th-consecutive Centennial Conference title and was followed by Dickinson College (180.5) and Ursinus College (122).
Coming Up
A handful of athletes will compete at a last chance meet next weekend.
This story was originally posted on the Gettysburg College Website.