UMass Dartmouth finishes 3rd in Little East Conference and 6th in Alliance Championship

(Dartmouth, MA) - Five All-New England Alliance performances helped UMass Dartmouth to a sixth-place Alliance Championship finish and a third place in the Little East Conference in the annual two-conference competition held April 29 at Fitchburg State College.

From the combined field of Massachusetts State College Athletic Conference (MASCAC) and Little East Conference (LEC) teams, Coach Jon Hird's women�s outdoor track and field concluded its season with a solid showing which included one second, two thirds and two fourth-place finishes.

The Corsairs' top performance came from junior Erin McDonald (Greenfield, MA) in the 1,500 meters. Her second place time was 5:01.40. Junior Jackie Gorski (Warwick, RI) finished third in the 5,000 meters in 29:33.50, a season best for her in that event, while first-year student-athlete Allison Enny (Whitehall, NY) turned in a third-place effort in the shot put (33-2 1/2). First-year student-athlete Randi Sullivan (Seekonk, MA) had a season-best time of 12:06.87 for fourth place in the 3,000 meters, while junior Shelly Kenyon (Fall River, MA) added a fourth in the 1500 meters behind McDonald with a time of 5:18.29.

UMass Dartmouth's best performance as a team during the spring 2000 season was the Corsairs' third-place finish at the Rhode Island College Invitational on April 8. Competing in a field of nine teams from throughout New England, UMass Dartmouth garnered 85 points for a third-place finish.

The Corsairs' strongest event was the discus where UMass Dartmouth took three of the top four places with each athlete turning in a season best performance. Junior Melissa Eslinger (Tiverton, RI) took first place with a toss of 96-4 with Enny right behind in second at 94-2. First-year student-athlete Angela Bradley (Lowell, MA) took fourth place with a throw of 87-2. UMass Dartmouth also took the top two spots in the 1500 meters with McDonald and Kenyon taking first and second. McDonald finished in 5:08.80 with Kenyon second at 5:31.54. Gorski gave the Corsairs a first-place finish in the 3000 meters with a winning time of 12:03.14.

Among the Corsairs' other top performers at the RIC Invitational were senior Sonya Hinman (Framingham, MA) in the 800 meters (2nd, 2:40.23), Sullivan in the 5000 meters (3rd, 22:32.17), and Enny in both the shot put (2nd, 33-10) and hammer (5th, 97-9). Sophomore Sara Supino (W. Springfield, MA) came up with a season best fourth in javelin with a throw of 81-4. UMass Dartmouth's 4x400-meter relay team of Hinman, first-year runner Kelly Sonsava (Bradford, MA), Kenyon and McDonald placed third in 4:46.14.