NEW ORLEANS – The Suffolk women's outdoor track & field team saw its name in the regional rating index for the first time in program history as the list was released by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) this week.
Suffolk's No. 15 New England ranking is based on the potential for team points at the NCAA Division III Outdoor Championships, scheduled for May 27-29 in Greensboro, North Carolina.
The Ram's No. 15 regional ranking is powered by seven different Rams women, six who currently rank in the top 10 in New England with all the marks coming at the season-opening Gordon Invite, where the blue-and-gold won eight of the nine events it competed in.
Thrower Allison Rodrigues had the most impressive outing as the junior won all four throwing events – discus, hammer throw, javelin and shot put. She put together the fifth-best shot put throw in New England this season with an 11.40-meter toss and threw the javelin 34.12 meters, good for seventh-best in the region. For her standout performance on April 10, the captain picked up CCC Field Athlete of the Week, the first Suffolk fielder to be named a league's top fielder over a seven day stretch in program history.
Freshman sprinter Amanda Walden was a crucial contributor to the ranking as well. The CCC Track Athlete and Rookie of the week not only won the 100 and 200, respectively, in her collegiate debut but did so with the ninth-best and second-best times in New England this year.
Walden's classmates Jocelyn Triscik and Sydney Fogg had regional runs in Wenham, Massachusetts as well to help propel Suffolk into the ranks. Trisciak clocked the 11th-best time in the 400 in the region, while Fogg had the 12th-best showing in New England in the 1500.
Grace Dreher, who garnered CCC Field Rookie of the Week, added to Suffolk's scores by a school record triple jump that was the 10th-best leap in New England this year.
Suffolk looks to improve upon these performances this weekend when it travels back to the North Shore for the second Gordon Invite Saturday, April 17.