CAMBRIDGE, Mass -- A pair of first place finishes and personal bests highlighted the performances for Wellesley track & field at the Gordon Kelly Invitational held at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on Saturday afternoon. Junior Samara Shaz (New York, N.Y) crossed the finish line first in the 3000m in 11:23.18, while junior Liz Wegman (East Sandwich, Mass) finished first in the 1000m in 3:12.01.

Senior Helen Andersen (Madison, N.J) broke her previous PR and program record from a week ago, placing third in the shot put with a distance of 11.52m.

The Blue had numerous top-ten finishes and PRs on the day, highlighted by the 200m, where three Blue student-athletes placed in the top ten and set new PRs. Leading the group was sophomore Aiyana Smith (Brooklyn, N.Y.) with a 5th place finish (29.13), while senior Yuriko Fukumura (Newton, Mass.) placed 7th (29.60) and senior Jenn Harris (Vestal, N.Y.) crossed the line in 9th place (29.73).

Wellesley saw four student-athletes run in events for the first time in their careers, including first year Natalie Li (Charlottesville, Va.) in the 3000m. Li placed 6th with a time of 11:41.96. Sophomore Ava Shipman (Makawao, Hawaii) ran the 1000m and placed 5th (3:19.04). In the 5000m, first year Amy Tao (Hong Kong, China) and junior Fiona Harrigian (San Marino, Calif.) finished back-to-back with 6th and 7th place finishes, respectively. Tao crossed the line at 20:12.84 and Harrigian at 20:25.95

In the field events, junior Keer Sun (Pine Brook, N.J.) lowered her PR from a week ago with a ninth place finish in the high jump, with a new mark of 1.50m. Classmate Tatenda Rameau (Syracuse, N.Y.) also finished 9th in the long jump with a distance of 4.82m. Rameau also competed in the 60m, where she led all Blue sprinters with a 6th place finish (8.38), a day after competing in the 200m at BU's Valentine Invitational. 

Wellesley returns to action next Sunday, February 17th at the USATF NE Championships at Harvard University.