Women's Track & Field 12/8/2019 11:40:00 PM Stevens Athletic Communications

What A Debut! Mathews Breaks Stevens’ Women’s Indoor Track & Field’s 60-Meter Hurdles Record at TCNJ Indoor Open

Freshman tops previous school record in 60-meter hurdles in first collegiate event

December 8, 2019

Results

The Basics

The lead: Freshman Laura Mathews shattered the school record in the 60-meter hurdles to lead the Stevens Institute of Technology women's indoor track & field team Saturday at The College of New Jersey Indoor Open.
Location: New Balance Track & Field Center at the Armory - New York, New York
Short Story: In her first collegiate event, Mathews posted a time of 8.95 seconds in both the preliminary and championship races of the 60-meter hurdles to break the previous record of 9.26 seconds set at the ECAC Division III Championships in 2014. The Denville, New Jersey native posted the second-fastest qualifying time and then completed the championship race in the same to top the eight-runner field that included four Division I student-athletes. Columbia's Madelyn Sessler posted the fastest prelim time (8.94 seconds), but finished behind Mathews with a time of 8.97 seconds. Mathews' time would have qualified the first-year runner for the 2019 NCAA Division III Indoor Championships (the top-20 times qualify) and is currently the fastest time in Division III. The time also set a new personal-best for the first-year runner.
Of Note: Team Scores were not compiled.

Top Finishers

Mathews partnered with classmate Liana Meyer and seniors Melissa Barnes and Gina Dello Russo to break the school's record in the 4x400-meter relay, finishing the race in 4:05.94, winning their heat by nearly four seconds. The time topped the previous record of 4:08.62 set in 2010.
Sophomore Samantha Reilly was the top Division III finisher in the shot put, hitting 11.09 meters on her final attempt to set a new indoor personal best to place fourth overall.

Of Note

Competing in her first career jumps competition, junior Alyssa Davis was third among Division III student-athletes in the high jump, hitting 1.45 meters.
Also competing in her first collegiate event, Meyer was the fourth Division III finisher in the Long Jump. reaching 4.86 meters on her first career attempt, to finish 11th overall.
Sophomore Eleanora Savova notched a personal-best in the triple jump, reaching 10.28 meters on her initial attempt. Her outdoor best in the triple jump is 9.99 meters.
Sophomore AnaMaria Laccetti reached 10.60 meters in the shot put to place eighth overall and posted a new PR in the weight throw, hitting 12.22 meters on her third attempts to place seventh as the second-highest Division III competitor.
Dello Russo reached the finals of the 60-meter dash, finishing eighth with a time of 8.12 seconds. She also finished second in the 300-meter dash with a time of 40.07 seconds.
Barnes also set a PR in the 300, finishing in 46.09 seconds.
Running in her first collegiate indoor competition, junior Nicole Kuzler ran a time of 9.77 seconds in the unseeded 60-meter dash. Competing in the same race, albeit in a different heat, freshman Kaylyn Spotton posted a time of 9.34 seconds.
In her first collegiate event, freshman Kristen Williams finished 23rd in the 300-meter dash with a time of 45.72 seconds and a time of 9.52 seconds in the 60-meter hurdles prelim race.

Harden's Thoughts

"What a fantastic way to start the season! It was truly an incredible meet in all event groups as our coed team achieved over 30 new personal bests and set three school records. We have a super talented group of freshmen and it was great to see them in action for the first time. They have bolstered the strength and depth of our team significantly."
"In October, we got to meet Hillary Paul in person, when she was inducted into the Hall of Fame, and she told Gina to take down the 4x400 record. Gina and Melissa have been targeting this record for four years, so it was a really special moment for it to all come together with two great first-years in Liana and Laura."
"As a first-year, it can be intimidating to open your collegiate career at the NYC Armory under the bright lights, but Laura relished the opportunity and put together two solid races in the hurdles. She is a real competitor and benefited from having strong hurdlers beside her. The exciting thing is that she was not fully satisfied with either race, and we have several things to tweak over the rest of the season!"
"AnaMaria set personal bests on all four of her attempts in the Weight Throw. She has worked very hard in the offseason, particularly in the weight room, and it is encouraging to see all of that dedication pay off. [Also,] Sam Reilly got over 11 meters in the indoor Shot Put for the first time in her career."

Up Next

Women's Track & Field returns to the New Balance Track & Field Center at the Armory on Friday, Jan. 17 for the Ramapo Opener, hosted by Ramapo College.

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