Desens making strides up NCAA rankings
Collegiate throwers have a wider range of events to compete in during the spring outdoor season than in the winter indoor season. Nicole Desens (Hopewell Junction, N.Y. / Arlington) is glad for the variety.
Desens, who became a SUNYAC champion in the indoor shot put this winter, threw a personal best 43.99m in the discuss throw at the St. John Fisher Classic on Saturday. Previously ranked No. 35 in the country in the event (41.39m), her improvement of 2.60m will likely move her up the NCAA Division III rankings.
Coming into the weekend, Desen's throw would have been good enough for No. 13 in the country. The national rankings are updated each week as improved performances are reported around the country.
Desens also threw 11.88m in the shot put. Other throwers scoring points for Fredonia were Brianne Paganello in the hammer throw (41.79m) and shot put (11.07) and Anneliese Bienko in the javelin throw (28.54m) and discus throw (35.77).
Junior sprinter Anna Dambacher (Divernon, Ill. / Auburn) ran a 12.51 in the 100-meter dash, a first-place finish and an improvement on her season best (12.87). Dambacher qualified for the 2014 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Chamionships last year with a 100-meter dash time of 12.03. She also ran a 26.00 in the 200-meter dash, with teammate Brittany Feldman (Jamestown, N.Y. / Southwestern) in close pursuit at 26.10.
Hailey Griewisch (Dunkirk, N.Y. / Dunkirk) finished in first place in the 100-meter hurdles at 15.55, coming within a hundredth of a second of her personal best time (15.54).
Mid-distance runners Kim Foltz (Elbridge, N.Y. / Jordan-Elbridge) and Laura Morrison (Wethersfield, Conn. / Wethersfield) were each point-scorers as well. Foltz finished third in the 800-meter run (2:21.56), while Morrison took fifth in the 400-meter run (59.73).
Freshman Kristen Sawyer (Lockport, N.Y. / Lockport) took first place in the pole vault, clearing 3.20m.
The relay team of Morrison, Bonnie Binggeli (Walworth, N.Y. / Gananda), Julia Johnson (Baldwinsville, N.Y. / C.W. Baker), and Katie Tresino (Clarence, N.Y. / Clarence) finished second in the 4x400-meter relay at 4:12.27.
