The 2016-17 Fredonia women's track and field season got underway Friday at the Houghton December Classic.
Fredonia had three first-place finishers. Kristen Guarino (Bergen/Byron-Bergen) won the mile in 5:35.31. Anneliese Bienko (Clarence/Clarence) had a winning toss of 11.83 meters (38 feet, 9 3/4 inches) in the shot put. Sarah Couperus (Marion, N.Y./Marion) cleared 1.60 meters (5 feet, 3 inches) to win the high jump.
In the first event of the season, sophomore Hannah Kurbs (Lockport/Lockport) finished third in the 5,000 meters with a time of 18:41.78. She finished behind two seniors, making her the first underclassman to cross the line, and was the first of five Blue Devils to finish.
Other strong opening-night performances came from Emily Maguire (Oakdale/Connequot), second to Guarino in the mile; and the combination of Kristen Sawyer (Lockport/Lockport) and Mikayla Capestrani (Jamesetown/Jamestown) in the pole vault. Sawyer tied for second after clearing 3.35 meters (10 feet, 11 3/4 inches). Capestrani cleared the same height but had more misses and finished fourth.
