Ashley Nichols
Ashley Nichols

Nichols & Varsell Lead Bentley at Tufts Cupid Challenge

MEDFORD, Mass. – A winning effort by senior Ashley Nichols (Kenmore, Wash./Inglemoor HS) and a second-place finish by All-America grad student Amy Varsell (Burlington, Conn./Lewis S. Mills HS) topped the list of performances for the Bentley University women's indoor track and field team during Saturday's Tufts Cupid Challenge at the Tufts University Gantcher Center.

Nichols broke the tape in the 3,000 meters in 10:21.54, a new personal best by more than seven seconds, and good for a winning margin of 1.28 seconds over Amherst's  Elizabeth Brisken. It put her at fifth on the Northeast-10 performance list and moved her from ninth to fifth on Bentley's all-time list.

Three others set new PR's in the 3,000, including sophomore Sarah Brennan (Quincy, Mass./ Notre Dame Academy) who finished seventh and moved into 15th on Bentley's all-time list with a 10:44.81. Sophomore Samantha Albanese (Lynnfield/Lynnfield HS) was 11th in 11:05.73, improving on her previous best by 31 seconds, and senior Leah Schiller (Tipp City, Ohio/Tippecanoe HS) bettered her PR by 13 seconds while placing 19th in 11:19.95.

Varsell was second of 26 in the 1,000 meters with her time of 2:59.69 putting her at sixth in Falcon history. It was also the best posted in the Northeast-10 this season, becoming the third event in which she has the NE-10's fastest performance (mile, 3000).

Senior Taren Kershaw (Revere/Revere HS) and juniors Brynnan Farrington (Shirley/Ayer HS) and Alix Pettinella (Wingdale, N.Y./Arlington HS) also had solid performances for Bentley. Farrington was ninth of 41 in the shot (36'6.75"), Pettinella was 14th of 42 in the 800 (2:28.12) and Kershaw as 15th of 49 in the 200 (27.52).

Another new personal best was posted by sophomore Chayna McDermott (Milton/Milton HS), who cleared 14 feet, 2.5 inches in the long jump. That shattered her previous PR by about two-and-a-half feet.

Next Saturday, Bentley will be at the Reggie Lewis Center for the Northeast-10 Conference Championships.