ROCHESTER, N.Y. - The Daemen College women's track and field team closed out its 2015-16 season today by taking part in the Cardinal Last Chance Meet hosted by St. John Fisher College.
Junior Mackenzie Donahue (East Aurora, N.Y./East Aurora) capped the event by posting a school-record time of 36:31.71 in the 10,000 meter run. The time also bettered the provisional qualifying time for the NCAA Division II National Championships. Donahue eclipsed the previous school-record time of 37:29.63 set by sophomore Amy Trabert (Amherst, N.Y./Amherst) at the Penn Relays Carnival two weeks ago. The 10,000-meter run provisional qualifying time for the NCAA Division II National Championships is 36:56.00, and by beating that mark Donahue has put herself in contention for an invitation to the national championship meet which will take place later this month in Bradenton, Fla.
Junior Brittany Denton (Oakfield, N.Y./Oakfield-Alabama) topped a nine-person field in the 1,500-meter run with a time of 4:54.42, while junior Ashley Cheff (Niagara Falls, N.Y./Niagara Falls) and Trabert placed second and third respectively in the 5,000-meter run with times of 18:14.54 and 18:50.95.
Freshman Kyra Kress (Wayland, N.Y./Alfred-Almond Central) also had a solid day, as she placed third in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 1:09.31 and also tied her own school-record in the pole vault (2.90 meters).
Daemen's relay teams fared well. The 4x400 team consisting of Kress and fellow freshmen Tiffany Cycon (Lancaster, N.Y./Lancaster), Rachel Roberson (Tonawanda, N.Y./Sweet Home) and Sydney McDonough (Alfred Station, N.Y./Alfred-Almond Central) posted a time of 4:11.73, bettering the previous school-record they set (4:13.54) at the Westminster Invitational last month. The 4x100 team of Carro, Cycon, Roberson and junior Leah May (Palmyra, N.Y./Palmyra-Macedon) posted a time of 51.92—less than a second shy of their school-record time of 51.45.
Kress was not the only student-athlete to tie a school-record during the field events. Roberson placed 10th and tied her own school-record in the long jump with a leap of 5.02 meters. Freshman Ellory Roberts (Lowville, N.Y./Lowville Academy) took part in the shot put, hammer throw and discus. She placed 13th in the shot put (8.21 meters), 17th in the hammer (28.01 meters) and 14th in the discus (25.32 meters). Fellow rookie Carrie Akin (Akron, N.Y./Akron) placed 13th in the triple jump (8.92 meters).
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