Adams Wins 5,000 Meter at the Youngstown State National Invitational

2/5/2016 7:55:00 PM | Women's Track and Field

By: TBD

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – Senior Nora Adams won the 5,000m run to lead the Bucknell women's track and field team on the first day of competition at the Youngstown State National Invite on Friday.

Adams beat out a field of 42 runners, winning the event with a time of 17:36.73. Several distance runners excelled in the event, as seniors Alison Billas and Deanna Godby along with sophomore Brennan Sharkey and freshman Christine O'Kane cracked the top-10.

Bucknell notched three top-five finishes in the 500m dash, including junior Laura Papili, who finished as the runner-up with an ECAC-qualifying time of 1:16.50. Rounding out the top finishes were junior Seline Tan-Torres and sophomore Emma Harris, who finished third and fourth, respectively.

Junior Kathleen Fitzgerald took second out of 18 in the 1000m run, crossing the finish line in 2:59.42. Fellow junior Grace Loh, along with freshmen Lauren Hazzard and Colleen Buckley capped off Bucknell's top finishes.

Other top-five finishes included seniors Sophia Nnadi (weight throw) and Devon McDonald (long jump) along with junior Kim Lapszynski (long jump) and sophomores Chloe Brown (pole vault) and Jenna Calandro (pole vault).

"It was a very good first day," says head coach Kevin Donner. "Adams and Billas did a real nice job in the 5,000 and our 500 meter runners ran great. It was good to see Nnadi throwing the weight far and our long jumpers are showing great consistency. We should see some good things tomorrow."

Competition at the Youngstown State National Invite picks back up on Saturday at 10 a.m. with field events. A group of student-athletes will also be competing at Susquehanna University in the Crusader Challenge.