Allison Hill, Jessica Wilson and Sally Ceesay helped make history over the weekend.
The three Bates College athletes earned All-America honors at the NCAA Division III Indoor Track and Field Championships in Naperville, Illinois, over the weekend. Three All-Americans is the most in the women’s program’s history.
Hill, a senior captain from Brunswick, became Bates’ first All-American in the 200-meter dash by placing fifth at the national championships. Her time of 25.22 seconds broke her own school record.
“I realized it was my last indoor race ever so I tried to put everything I had into it,” Hill said in a news release. “I am really proud of everyone’s performances this weekend, it was amazing.”
Saturday’s performance was a bounce-back after Hill crashed into a hurdle in the 60-meter hurdles Friday, an event she entered as the No. 1 seed in the nation.
“When I think about Alley right now, I just want to start crying because I’m so proud of her,” Wilson said after her race. “That hurdle race was really tough and I think the whole team really felt for Alley and we all really wanted Alley to do well. She out of anyone deserves to be an All-American because she works harder than anyone that I’ve ever met. For her to come in fifth in the 200 makes me so happy for her.”
“Alley showed incredible poise and maturity this weekend,” Bates head coach Jay Hartshorn said. “I think her ability to overcome helped motivate everyone to make the most of the meet. With only eight All-Americans per event in track, it is incredible that we are coming home with all of the women earning All-American honors.”
The All-America honor is Hill’s first. Wilson, from Cumberland, became an All-American for the third time.
Like Hill, Wilson is a senior captain who ran to a fifth-place finish at nationals. Wilson ran a 9:45.33 in the 3,000-meter run. That time is a personal flat-track record and makes Wilson the first Bobcat since 1990 to become an All-American in the 3,000.
“I was really trying to be comfortable with being uncomfortable,” Wilson said. “It’s less than 10 minutes of running, and you can do anything for 10 minutes. I know if I push myself and it hurts more, then, ultimately, I’ll be happier with the result, and that’s what happened there.”
Ceesay, a junior from Bronx, New York, also is an All-American for the third time after taking seventh in the triple jump with a distance of 11.98 meters (39 feet, 3.75 inches).
Ceesay placed eighth in the triple jump at last year’s indoor and outdoor national championships.
Wilson was part of Bates’ first All-America performance Friday, running the anchor leg of the Bobcats’ program-best fourth-place finish in the women’s distance medley relay.
Sarah Rothmann (Andover, Massachusetts) led off the relay by running the 1,200 meters portion of the race. Claire Markonic (Millerton, New York) ran the next 400 meters, and then Ayden Eickhoff (Corvallis, Montana) ran the 800-meter portion of the race before Wilson took care of the final 1,600 meters.
The relay’s 11:51.93 time sets a new program record on a flat track. The fourth-place finish surpasses the previous Bates best in the DMR, which was fifth place in 2014.
The Bobcats finished the national championships with 15 points, which ranked 11th out of 70 scoring teams.
The four All-America honors surpasses the previous high of three in 2014.
Weber lights up scoreboard
Kyle Weber tied a nearly 20-year-old record to lead the No. 11 nationally ranked Bates men’s lacrosse team to a 23-17 win over fifth-ranked Amherst on Sunday.
Weber (Chagrin Falls, Ohio) scored nine goals in the win, which ties Mike D’Addario’s mark for most goals in a single game. D’Addario netted his nine on April 14, 1997.
“I guess they were just falling (today),” Weber said. “We were pushing at the right times, putting quality shots on goal, that’s really all it is. We have a lot of good threats on offense so a lot of times defenses have to pack it in and really defend everybody we have down there, so it opens up a lot over the top for me.”
On Monday, Weber was named the NESCAC Men’s Lacrosse co-Player of the Week, along with PJ Kelleher of Connecticut College.
“I think Weber’s one of the best midfielders in the country,” head coach Peter Lasagna said. “He’s a really smart, aggressive lacrosse player and he shot the ball like a first team All-American today.”
The Bobcats’ win over the Purple and White is their first since 2013.
Mustangs’ hockey pro
Matthew Henderson became the first Central Maine Community College player to play in a professional hockey game earlier this month.
Henderson played his first professional hockey game and scored his first professional goal March 3 for the St. Clare Shores Fighting Saints, a Federal Hockey League team based in Michigan. Henderson also had two shots on goal in a 7-1 loss to the Watertown Wolves in Watertown, Connecticut.
Henderson (Barrington, New Hampshire) led the Mustangs in scoring in their first season playing intercollegiate hockey in the American Collegiate Hockey Association in 2016.
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