South Hadley, Mass. – April 26, 2025 – Highlighted by a record breaking performance from Samantha Paul (Albany, N.Y.), the Springfield College women's track and field team finished third overall at the 2025 New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Championships over the weekend. 

MIT won the meet with 278 points and was followed by Coast Guard (127.5), Springfield (94.5), Wheaton (65), WPI (60), Smith (51), Wellesley (47), Babson (46), Mount Holyoke (41) and Salve Regina (9).

Paul set a NEWMAC Championship record and facility record in the triple jump as she leapt 12.06-meters to claim gold in the event ahead of previous record holder Nony Out Ugwu of MIT, who posted a mark of 11.93-meters. Paul now ranks top-10 nationally in the triple jump this season with her jump today.

Katherine DeFosse (Worcester, Mass.) also claimed NEWMAC All-Conference honors and a gold medal with her first place finish in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 14.33-seconds, which ranks her in the top-20 in the country this season. The sophomore also wrapped up the championships with a ninth place finish in the 100-meter dash in 12.68-seconds and teamed up with Ella Couchon (Windsor Locks, Conn.), Madison Mulas (Wilmington, Mass.) and Abby Hemstrought (Clinton, Mass.) for a bronze medal finish in the 4x100-meter relay in 49.52-seconds.

Springfield's 4x400-meter relay of Natalia Marchand (Hubbardston, Mass.), Peyton Knott (Leicester, Mass.), Elina Olmedo (Wakefield, Mass.) and Julia Brillo (Ludlow, Mass.) took fourth place in 4:03.10. Olmedo went on to finish fourth in the 800-meter run clocking a 2:18.39, while Couchon took seventh in the 200-meter dash in 26.30 and Brillo crossed the line 12th in the 400-meter dash in 1:01.62.

Kristina Kyle (Watertown, Conn.) recorded a sixth place finish in the 5,000-meter run in 18:24.38 and seventh place finish in the 1,500-meter run with a time of 4:46.32, while Mackenzie DiDonato (Thomaston, Conn.) paced the Pride in the 400-meter hurdles in eighth with a time of 1:10.36 to round out the highlights on the track.

Aside from Paul's record breaking performance in the triple jump, Jillian Scott (Westhampton, Mass.) tied the school record once again in the pole vault clearing 3.40-meters. Hannah Debian (West Springfield, Mass.) recorded a bronze medal finish in the shot put with a toss of 11.43-meters, a fourth place finish in the hammer throw with a toss of 42.95-meters and a sixth place finish in the discus with a toss of 32.35-meters, while Elizabeth Lewelling (Palmdale, Calif.) and Autumn Bacik (Watertown, Conn.) finished fourth and fifth in the long jump with marks of 5.16-meters and 5.15-meters, respectively.

Bacik went on to place fourth in the high jump clearing 1.56-meters and fifth in the pole vault clearing 3.25-meters, while Bailey McDevitt (Wakefield, Mass.) posted a mark of 33.16-meters for eighth in the javelin. 

Those who have qualified will travel to the Coast Guard Academy for the New England Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championships next weekend.

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