NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Wellesley College track & field opened the NEICAAA Championships on Friday afternoon at Southern Connecticut State University, earning three All-New England top-eight finishes thanks to sophomore Abena Asare (Berlin, N.J.), junior Mary Keenan (Boerne, Texas) and senior Priyanka Fouda (Wellesley, Mass.).

Wellesley is currently in 6th place out of 26 teams in the overall standings, having amassed 15 points at the cross-divisional New England championship meet. Division I Northeastern University leads the field with 47.50 points.

Asare earned the second NEICAAA All-New England of her career in the Long Jump, leaping to a distance of 5.70m to finish as the runner-up in the event. Asare's mark was the best of any Division III competitor in the field, as she only trailed Northeastern's Nicole Genard (Taunton, Mass.).

In the 5000m, the Blue earned two All-New England times. Keenan was the top Division III finisher, taking third overall behind a pair of Northeastern runners with a time of 17:11.59. Fouda also finished in the top-eight, running to a time of 17:32.85 to take eighth place and All-New England honors, while finishing fifth among Division III runners in the event. 

Junior Isabella Narvaez (Cali, Colombia) competed in the prelims of the 400m and 200m runs. Narvaez ran to a time of 57.49 in the 400m and 25.67 in the 200m but did not advance to Saturday's final in either event. Also in action for the Blue, junior Sara Vannah (Amherst, Mass.) ran to a time of 40:16.99 to take 17th in the 10,000m run.

Blue track & field will continue the NEICAAA Championships on Saturday, beginning with Edie Sharon (Winchester, Mass.) and Sonja Cwik (La Canada, Calif.) in the 3000m Steeplechase at 12:15 PM. Sharon and Cwik will be followed later in the day by Sharon Ng (Sunnyvale, Calif.) in the 1500m and Ng, Caitlin Bailey (Old Forge, N.Y.), Alessandra Gavin (Annapolis, Md.) and Isabella King (Cincinnati, Ohio) in the 4 x 800m relay.