Scoring Depth Leads Women's Indoor Track & Field to GNAC Championship Title

BOSTON - In arguably the most competitive Great Northeast Athletic Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships in conference history, the Emmanuel Saints women's program stood atop the podium, gathering 135.5 points to win the GNAC Women's Indoor Championships on Sunday afternoon at the Boston University Track & Tennis Center. 

The Saints won by just 9.5 points over second-place Colby-Sawyer, who managed 126 points on the day. Regis was not far behind, taking third place after scoring 117 points. Saint Joseph's College and Lasell rounded out the top-five.

The margin of victory for the Saints is the smallest winning margin in the women's indoor competition ever. Sunday's event also marks the first time in GNAC indoor history that three teams scored over 100 points. 

The Saints can credit their depth of athletes and ability to score in nearly every event hosted at the GNAC Championships, as the Emmanuel Women scored points in 15 of the 16 events on Sunday. Speaking to their scoring depth, the victory was earned despite only one Saint winning an individual or team event, scoring the lone 10-point mark on the afternoon. 

That Saint was junior Desiree Robinson (West Haven, Conn.) who claimed the individual title in the high jump, clearing the bar at 1.51 meters (4' 11.5"). Robinson scored second-place finishes in the long jump and triple jump, and a sixth place in the 400 meters, accounting for 27 points on the day.

Emmanuel added five second-place finishes in addition to the two that Robinson contributed. Individually, senior Beverly Browne (Amesbury, Mass.) finished second in the pole vault, clearing the bar at 2.45 meters (8' 0.5"). Senior Adeline LeGault (Farmington, Conn.) was second in the 400 meters with a PR time of 1:02.10. First-year Kendall Newton (Gloucester, Mass.) added a second-place time in the mile at a PR of 5:53.39.

The other second-place marks for the Saints came in the team relays as Emmanuel's time of 4:20.30 in the 4x400 meters and time of 14:57.48 in the distance medley relay, added 16 more points to the team total.

Every point mattered on Sunday as six third-place finishes added 36 points to the Saints team score. Senior Alyssa French-Graham (Waterbury, Conn.) was third in the weight throw. Fellow senior Emma Krantz (Manchester, N.H.) scored third in the 5000 meters. Junior Cynthia Brito (Whitman, Mass.) placed third in the triple jump. Sophomores Emily Greene (Swansea, Mass.) and Paula Salazar (Cumberland, R.I.) were third in the high jump and pole vault, respectively. Rounding out the podium finishes was first-year Ava Fisher (Abington, Mass.) with third place in the shot put.

On the men's side of the draw, sophomore Pierre Paul Labossiere (Port-au-Prince, Haiti) scored 14 points for the Saints men on Sunday, including winning the individual title in the high jump, clearing the bar at 1.85 meters (6' 0.75").

With his third and final jump in the round, Labossiere approached from the left side, leaped into the air, and grazed the bar, but despite the shakiness of the bar, it remained on the stand, counting as a successful clear and giving him the GNAC high jump title.

Labossiere added four more points individually in the triple jump, setting a PR with a distance of 12.43 meters (40' 9.50"). First-year Isaiah Etienne (Watertown, Mass.) added four points via a fourth place in the 60-meter dash PR of 7.35 seconds. First-year Nicholas Ware (Rehoboth, Mass.) rounded out the top-five finishes for the Saints men's program individually, with a 5000-meter run time of 17:51.10.

The Emmanuel women are the first two-time GNAC Indoor Champions dating back to the first Championship meet back in 2020. In the years since, the Saints have either finished first or second in the Championship Meet.

The indoor season has concluded as the attention turns to the outdoor season, starting on March 23 with a trip to Bridgewater State for the BSU Bears Invitational. The Emmanuel women will look to win their third straight GNAC Outdoor Championships in late-April.