Julia Morena
Julia Morena

Wilson, Morena & Mattson Among Bentley Standouts in Season-Opener

BOSTON, Mass. --  Sophomore Courtney Wilson (Morrisonville, N.Y./Beekmantown Central HS), junior Julia Morena (Boylston/Tahanto Reg. HS) and freshman Steph Mattson (Smithfield, R.I./ Smithfield HS) were among the top performers for the Bentley University women's indoor track team during the season-opening UMass-Boston Indoor Invitational Saturday at the Reggie Lewis Center.

Wilson was first among 45 competitors in the long jump with her distance of 17'9" good for second place on Bentley's all-time list. She won by three inches over UMass-Boston's Taylor Driggers. Following in seventh was Mattson, who debuted at number three on the Falcons' all-time list with a 16'8.75".

Mattson also broke the school record in the 600 meters with her 1:39.86 bettering the existing standard of 1:43.02, set by Kate Viera in 2006. She was third of 18 runners in the event and classmate Steph Robinson (Randolph, N.J./Randolph HS) followed in sixth (1:49.07).

Morena led a strong effort by Bentley in the 5,000 meters with her 18:24.01 putting her second of 12 in the race and at number six on the program's all-time list. Junior Katie Burke (Braintree/ Braintree HS) was third (18:22.51), sophomore Courtney Loughnan (Canton/Canton HS) was sixth (19:41.19), senior Arianne Bourgault (Fitchburg/Fitchburg HS) was seventh (20:05.67) and senior Anna Pickett (Schenectady, N.Y./Guilderland HS) finished ninth (20:30.88).

Sophomore Marianne Bartolotta (Wantagh, N.Y./Holy Trinity HS) was second of 16 in the 3,000 with her 11:10.00 a personal best. Junior Mary Leach (Peabody/Peabody Veterans HS) was fourth (11:22.76) and sophomore Caroline Conrad (Bedford, N.H./Bedford HS) took eighth (11:42.86).

Sophomore Jennifer Girard (Simsbury, Conn./Westminster School) achieved a pair of PR's as she was 27th of 106 in the 200 meters (27.66) and 41st of 86 in the 60 (8.55).

Bentley will be back in action Thursday and Friday with the Elm City Classic at Southern Connecticut State.