Bates College

Junior captain Carli Ciavarelli bested her personal record by nearly two feet in the 20-pound weight throw, highlighting the first two meets of the season Saturday for the Bates women's track and field team.

Ciavarelli (Ridgefield, Conn.) entered the New Balance Early Bird Invite with a personal-best mark of 52-11 (16.13m) in the weight. Then on her final attempt of the day, she surged past that distance with a throw of 54-6.75 (16.63m), good for fourth on the Bates all-time performance list. She took second place out of 27 weight throwers in the non-scoring meet, finishing behind only the University of Maine's Cheyenne Figueroa.