FITCHBURG, Mass. -- Nine top-five finishes and an all-around solid team effort led the Wellesley College track and field squad to a fourth place finish at the 2013 Fitchburg State Spring Invitational.

The Blue finished with 58 team points, topped only by Tufts University (249), Worcester State (120.5), and Wheaton (78.5). Wellesley out-placed 11 other scoring teams at the event.

Leading the way for the Blue, sophomore Taylor Bickford won the steeplechase at the event. She finished in a time of 12:06.05, which marked a personal best, while improving her seed time for the New England Championships. Sophomore Madeline Gorchels also scored in the steeplechase, recording a personal best time of 13:56.00 to finish fifth.

Wellesley had six competitors in both the 800m and 1,500m events, recording two top-five finishes in each. In the 800m event. senior Cristina Lucas and first-year Victoria Lee finished third and fifth overall in personal best times. Lucas recorded a 2:19.28 to qualify for the New England and ECAC Championships, while Lee's time of 2:22.41 qualified her for New Englands. Also in the 800m, first-year Sharon Ng scored with a time of 2:23.46, while first-years Carolyn Chelius and Mariana Breña each recorded personal bests.

In the 1,500, senior Randelle Boots (4:54.27) and sophomore Alexandra Dunn (4:55.52) finished third and fourth overall, with Dunn's time marking a personal best. Also scoring in the 1,500m, junior Jane Lodwick (5:01.00) and first-year Alessandra Gavin (5:01.14) finished seventh and eighth overall. Wrapping up the 1,500m highlights, first-year Priyanka Fouda hit a personal best time of 5:06.67 in an 11th place finish.

Wellesley fared well in both of the relay events it entered, recording a second place finish in the 4 x 400m event and a fifth place finish in the 4 x 100m event. Ng, Dunn, and sophomores Kathleen Hanlon and Kendra Waters, combined for a time of 4:13.92 in the 4 x 400m event. In the 4 x 100m relay, junior Sheena Dupuy, senior Eden Bass, Hanlon and Waters, teamed up for a fifth place time of 54.25.

This was the Blue's final tune-up before the 2013 NEWMAC Championships. The event will be hosted by Springfield College on April 27th.