Staten Island, N.Y. — The Wagner women brought home their first NEC Indoor Championship with a record-scoring win on Sunday.
It was a dominant win for the Seahawks, who had a final score of 176 that was 57.5 points above second-place Stonehill's 118.5 score. That score shattered the NEC's Indoor Championship high scoring— the previous record at an NEC Indoor Championship had been 162.5 points scored by Monmouth in 2013.
Beginning on Sunday, February 17 with preliminaries and finals in some field events, the Seahawks took a slight early lead at the conclusion of the first day's events. Day one ended with the Seahawks leading by just 3.5 points with a score of 33 over second-place Stonehill's 29.5 score.
Senior Ruth-Ann Chambers set the tone for day two from the start, winning the 60-meter hurdles in Monday's first event with an 8.50 time. She kept that success going in the 60-meter dash, winning her second gold medal of the day in as many events. She ran a 7.67-second race, beating Chicago State's Sanaa Parker by 0.003 seconds.
From there, Chambers placed first in the 500-meter dash and 4x400-meter relay. She ran a 1:16.02 time in the first and the four combined for a 3:53.48 performance in the relay. Chambers ran the opening leg, followed by junior Angelina Olah, senior Janee Patterson and sophomore June Fernandez.
For her massive performances as an individual and for the team, Chambers won a repeat Most Outstanding Track Performer as a sprinter and the meet's Most Valuable Performer award.
In the field events, freshman Mia Petersen led the charge. She won gold in the triple jump, with an 11.69-meter (38-4.25) performance that also earned her Most Outstanding Field Performer of the meet's jumpers. She also placed third in long jump on Sunday with a 5.55-meter (18-3.75) jump.
Fernandez and Patterson ran in the 400-meter dash as individuals, finishing fourth and seventh to add seven points to the team total.
Juniors Laura Trenado and Giavanna Comerford finished third and fourth in the 3000-meter run on Sunday and Trenado takes home bronze for the performance. Freshman Rylee Ferretti and senior Elizabeth Szambel followed behind to finish sixth and seventh, with the four runners combining to contribute 16 points towards the team total.
Ferretti returned late in the day for the 5000-meter run, Monday's final event before the relays. She earned a silver medal with a 17:16.90 time, followed by graduate senior Elizabeth Szambel in fifth place.
The Wagner women stepped up big in the one-mile run, with Trenado and Comerford finishing in second and third, respectively, followed by sophomore Magui Calvo in fourth. The trio combined to add 19 points to the team total.
Olah had a massive finish in an incredibly close 800-meter run, with a first-place time of 2:18.30 to beat out Saint Francis' Emma Fleck who finished with a time of 2:18.45. She was joined on the podium by third-place sophomore Victoria Dziubela and Calvo, the third Wagner runner to qualify for the final, placed fourth.
Wagner also landed on the podium in the second relay of the day. Trenado, sophomore Angel Okafor, Calvo and Comerford ran a 12:05.47 race to finish in second place, almost ten seconds ahead of third-place Central Connecticut.
Junior Elisa Parazzi was another athlete who put points on the board for the Seahawks with an event that finished early. The jumper's 1.65-meter (5-5.00) high jump earned her second place and added eight points to the scoreboard.
