Emmitsburg, Md. - The Robert Morris University women's track & field team finished fifth at the 2012 Northeast Conference Outdoor Championships Sunday afternoon by compiling 76.25 points.
Monmouth claimed its fourth straight NEC outdoor title by finishing with 159.25 points, holding off LIU Brooklyn (146). Sacred Heart (139.25) finished third, followed by Saint Francis (Pa.) (94) in fourth place.
A pair of Colonials walked away with individual championships, and both were freshman.
In the pole vault, Bethany Ledford (Huntingdon, Pa. / Huntingdon) claimed gold as RMU featured to top two finishers in the event.
Ledford and junior Casey Folga (Erie, Pa. / Harborcreek) each maxed out at the same height of 3.35 meters (10'11.75"), but Ledford cleared the height on her first attempt to win the individual title, while it took Folga two tries.
It marks the fourth straight year a student-athlete from Robert Morris has won the pole vault at the NEC Outdoor Track & Field Championships, as Folga won the event last year, while former Colonial Erica Schmidt (2006-10) earned gold in both 2009 and 2010.
Freshman Aubree Ray (Middletown, Pa. / Middletown Area) also won an individual title, winning the discus Sunday afternoon with a toss of 45.12 meters (148'00"). She outlasted Christin Bridge of Saint Francis (Pa.), who finished second thanks to a final tally of 44.01 meters (144'5").
Also in the throws, sophomore Rachael Kotula (East Berlin, Pa. / Bermudian Springs) finished second in the javelin with a throw of 41.18 meters (135'1") to earn All-NEC Second Team accolades for the second straight year.
Another freshman also came through with an impressive performance for RMU in the 1,500-meter, as Marissa Polk (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Oakland Catholic) finished fourth thanks to a time of 4:42.04. Polk finished third in the preliminaries of the event Saturday with a time of 4:45.93.
A pair of Colonials scored in the 100-meter hurdles, as senior Hillary Monger (Reading, Pa. / Holy Name) finished fifth thanks to a time of 14.75 seconds, while junior Sarah Lueck (Monrovia, Md. / Urbana) finished seventh at 15.34.
In the 3,000-meter steeplechase, sophomore Lindsay Erath (Aliquippa, Pa. / Hopewell) finished sixth by crossing the finish line in a time of 11:19.38, while sophomore Yulia Vasilyeva (Volgograd, Russia) earned sixth in the high jump thanks to a leap of 1.65 meters (5'5").
Senior Lakeshia McCloud (Bath, N.Y. / Haverling) concluded her career by earning fifth in both the long and triple jumps at the 2012 NEC Outdoor Championships. She produced a leap of 5.56 meters (18'3") in the long and a mark of 11.57 meters (37'11.50") in the triple.