Alford leads women's track at New England Division III Indoor Championships

WALTHAM, Mass. -- Senior Olivia Alford of Orono, Maine, placed third in the 400-meter dash and anchored the 4x200-meter relay to a fourth-place finish to earn two All-New England honors and lead the Brandeis University women's indoor track and field team to a 12th place finish at the New England Division III championships at Smith College on Feb. 23.

Alford was edged out for second place in the 400, finishing with a time of 59.16 seconds, just 0.02 out of the silver medal. Alford anchored the 4x200 relay to a time of 1:49.01, edging fifth-place Springfield College by 0.05 seconds. This is the second year in a row she has earned All-New England honors, helping the distance relay last year to a third-place finish. Also on the 4x200 team this year were rookie Michelle Gellman of Potomac, Md., junior Kate Henry of Worcester, Mass., and senior Sandra Canuto of Weymouth, Mass.

Two other Brandeis relays earned All-New England honors. The youthful distance medley relay of rookies Gellman and Grayce Selig of Narberth, Pa., sophomore Beth Pisarik of Chelmsford, Mass., and rookie Marie Lemay of Saco, Maine placed third, and the 4x800-meter relay of sophomore Jess Girard of Billerica, Mass., rookie Emily Owen of Syracuse, N.Y., sophomore Julia Alpaio of Chelmsford, Mass., and rookie Hannah Lindholm of Madison, Wisc. finished seventh.
Brandeis had one other individual All-New England performance, as sophomore Suzanne Bernier of Hanson, Mass., tied for fourth in the high jump with a leap of 5 feet, 2 1/4 inches.

In all, the Judges finished in 12th place with 23.50 points, just 1/2 point behind 11th-place Southern Maine and 9.5 points ahead of host Smith College.