While the outdoor season came to an end two weeks ago for most of the Massachusetts women’s track and field team, two of its athletes wrapped up their seasons this weekend at the NCAA East Preliminary Championship.
Becky Stoyle and Heather MacLean each participated in the three-day event held in Jacksonville, Florida and competed in the triple jump and 800-meter run respectively.
Stoyle, a senior, closed out her UMass career Saturday, placing 23rd out of 48 competitors with a jump of 40 feet, 111/2 inches. Her performance marked her best finish in three years competing in the preliminaries.
Georgia freshman Keturah Orji took home gold in the event, jumping 43 feet, 103/4 inches.
Stoyle leaves the Minutewomen as the triple jump record holder for both the indoor and outdoor seasons. This year, she placed second in the event at the Atlantic 10 Championship and the New England Championship, in which UMass placed fourth and sixth overall, respectively.
MacLean places 31st in 800
On day one of the meet, MacLean finished her successful 2015 sophomore campaign with a 31st place result out of 48 competitors in the 800-meter run.
With the top three finishers in each heat advancing to the next round, MacLean placed fifth out of eight in heat four with a time of two minutes, 7.4 seconds.
Like Stoyle, this year was not the first time MacLean qualified for the NCAA East Preliminaries. However, MacLean was unable to compete as a freshman in 2014 due to injury.
MacLean’s season was highlighted by a pair of gold medals in the 800-meter run in the A-10 and New England championships. In the latter meet, the Peabody native shattered a 28-year-old school record with a time of 2:06.45.
Looking ahead to 2016, the Minutewomen lose nine seniors from the 2015 squad but return a solid group of returnees, led by MacLean.
Anthony Chiusano can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter @a_chiusano24.