The women’s track team competed in the Engineers’ Cup this past weekend when they took on MIT and host WPI. Despite good showings in several events, the team came up short and finished second with 130 points to MIT’s 151.
Several RPI competitors came up with first place finishes. Among these were: Lauren Cephas (1:00.44 minutes) in the 400-meter, Alyssa Coffey (2:26.38 minutes) in the 800-meter, Andrea Julius (1:28.07 minutes) in the 400-meter intermediate hurdles, Kate Adams (5:01.04 minutes) in the 1,500-meter, Melissa VanAlstine in both the long jump (4.91 m) and the triple jump (10.13 m), and Allison Benson (2.90 m) in the pole vault. In addition to these outstanding individual triumphs, the RPI relay teams won the 4x400 and 4x800-meter races.
On top of these first place finishes, the Engineers also had some strong showings in several other events. In the 10,000-meter, Allison Soja (41:09 minutes) and Andrea Maggi (45:44 minutes) took second and third respectively. In addition to Adams’ first place, Megan Hyland (5:20.8 minutes) and Rebecca Rosenberg-Bera (5:22.56) took third and fourth in the 1,500-meter. In the 800-meter, Cara O’Toole (2:27.23 minutes) took third. Cephas (26.88 seconds) took second in the 200-meter dash. Katie Roden (10:57.71 minutes) earned second in the 3,000-meter, while Jo Alexander (11.64 m) and Melissa Coppola (11.08 m) took second and fourth in the shot put. In addition to VanAlstine’s win in the triple jump, Cynthia Cacy (5.23 m) took fourth. Cara Rosaic (2.47 m), Coralyn Atwell (2.59 m), and Julius (2.39 m) tied for second and placed fourth and fifth in the pole vault, respectively.
This was a good showing for the team, and hopefully they can grab a few more points this weekend when they compete in the UCAA Championships.
