W. Track's Mitchell qualifies for ECAC's at Yale Invite

Jessica Mitchell set a personal best of 2 minutes, 14 seconds to win the 800 meters by more than two seconds. Considering they had a two-week break before competing, the less than stellar results of the women's track team appear much more encouraging. Traveling to Yale Saturday to compete against several teams, the team was paced by Jessica Mitchell's ECAC-qualifying performance. The only first place finish for the Quakers came from Mitchell, a junior middle distance runner, in the 800 meter run. Mitchell set a personal record and had a time of 2 minutes 14 seconds, qualifying her for the ECACs. The ECAC qualifying time that Mitchell needed was 2:16. The second place finisher in the 800 meter event was more than two seconds behind Mitchell. And the third place finisher followed Mitchell by over four seconds. "Jessica had a wonderful day. She looked like a million dollars," Quakers assistant coach Tony Tenisci said. "She was so far ahead of everybody. It was just a blowout. It was wonderful to see because she's such a talent and she's in great shape." Mitchell also ran a leg of the 4x400 meter event. The team finished fourth with a time of 3 minutes 56 seconds. This relay team missed qualifying for the ECACs by less than a second. "For our girls to do this given that we've only been back a week, after being away for two weeks, we're really pleased," Tenisci said. "And they had a hard week of training so it isn't as if they went into this meet fresh. We were training right through the meet." Junior distance runner Rita Garber placed second in the 3000 meter run. Fellow junior Luana Botelho also placed second in the shot put with 42 feet 7 inches, a farther distance than her second place indoor heptagonal win last year. "Everyone is still getting their feet wet. It's still the beginning. Everyone's still getting kinks out," said Botelho. "You have a starting point. You see where you are, and this meet definitely left everyone wanting more." Other highlights included the performance of junior Mandy Bennett who threw for over 48 feet in the 20 pound weight event. Though a couple feet shy of her personal record, set at the last meet, Bennett is still throwing farther than her best distance last year. Junior Aqiyla Muhammed jumped for 17'8", giving her fifth place. The 4x800 meter relay team placed third overall. For a couple of freshmen, this was their first time competing in a meet with the entire team. Freshman Bassey Adjah placed fourth in the pentathlon. Fellow freshman JaJuan Gair was able to advance to the semi-final heat with a time of 8.54 seconds. "JaJuan had a very good time for a freshman in that company," said Tenisci. "They are going to get better and better as we get farther into this."

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