NORTHAMPTON, Mass. – Westfield State junior Eliza Lee won a pair of events and was part of the Owls women's track and field team's winning 4x400 relay team as the Owls won the 2024 Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference Indoor Track and Field Championship on Saturday afternoon at Smith College.
Lee topped the field in the 600 and the 800 meters, in the 800 making her move at the top of the last turn to get past Bridgewater's Kate Brown, who entered the meet with a seed time nearly two seconds faster than Lee. Lee turned the tables, posting a time of 2:32.76 – nearly two seconds faster than Brown.
Lee was also part of the Owls winning 4x400 relay that closed out the meet with a winning time of 4:25.17, with the quartet of Savannah Campbell, Devin Whalen, Lee and Owls senior captain Paige Moroney hitting the tape first.
Westfield's depth was the difference, winning both the 4x4 and 4x800 relays late, and stacking the deck in the women's 3000 where the Owls had the only six competitors, to claim all 31 points available in the race. Julianne Kelly and Shea Hamel hit the finish line together, with Kelly winning the photo finish in 11:37.26, 1/10th of a second ahead of Hamel on the camera.
Hamel got the Owls off to a fast start by winning the first running event of the day, topping the 5000 meters in a time of 19:08.30. Running in a tight pack early, Hamel took control of the race with about 1000 meters to go, as she moved to the lead. Fitchburg's Skye Goba tried to counter and got to Hamel's elbow, before Hamel quickly put a few yards' distance on Goba and Hamel rolled to four-second win.
The 4x800 team of Brynne LeCours, Ariann LeCours, Tealei Chandonnet and Rayna Consiglio were also winners in 10:53.44.
Lee picked up second in triple jump and third in the long jump to add even more points to the Owls tally.
Westfield finished with 194 points to Bridgewater's 169, Fitchburg was third with 87 and Worcester fourth with 61 points.