BOSTON -- 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.
A number of other Bobcats also stood out at the New Balance Early Bird Invite, held at the TRACK at new balance.
- Sophomore Lia Traficonte (Cumberland, Maine) won her section and took fifth place overall out of 21 runners in the 400-meter dash with a personal-record time of 1:01.09. Rookie Dara Salka (Somers, Conn.) wasn't far behind, also winning her section and taking seventh place overall in 1:02.13.
- First-year Juno Rogers (Decatur, Ga.) won her heat and made the 60-meter hurdles final with a prelims time of 9.67 seconds. Then she impressed in the final with a time of 9.57 seconds, good for eighth place at the meet and eighth on the Bates all-time performance list.
- Traficonte, first-year Graca Bila (Westbrook, Maine), first-year Madison Alves (Stoneham, Mass.), and Salka teamed up to take fourth place in the 4x400 relay with a time of 4:13.83.
- First-year Campbell Johnson (Naples, Maine) placed seventh out of 21 competitors in the triple jump with a 34-7 (10.54m), good for 10th on the Bates all-time performance list.
Bates women's track and field sent a lone athlete to the Sharon Colyear-Danville Season Opener at Boston University, where first-year
Mikayla Ferguson (Winchester, Mass.) took 44th in the mile in 5:37.89.
The Bobcats are back in action on Saturday, Jan. 11 when they return to the TRACK at new balance for the Suffolk Ice Breaker.
