GORHAM, Maine – Nine different individuals earned All-New England status Saturday at the 2006/07 New England Division III Women’s Indoor Track & Field Championships at the USM Field House on the campus of the University of Southern Maine.

It marks the first time under sixth-year head coach Frank Poulin that a member of the women’s program has attained New England status in indoor competition. With four points, Eastern was one of 21 institutions to garner at least one point. Williams College won the team title with 151 points.

The top eight individuals and relays are named All-New England.

Freshman Sharday Alston (New Haven/Hillhouse HS) earned All-New England honors on an individual basis with an eighth-place finish in the 55 meter hurdles (9.71). The 4x400 meter relay and Distance Medley Relay finished seventh and eighth, respectively, in program-record times of 4:14.26 and 13:20.04. The 4x400 broke its own record of 4:15.56 which it set a week ago at the New England Alliance championship, while the DMR shattered the record of 14:01.67 which was established at the 2002 New England Championship on this same track.

As it did last week, the 4x400 relay featured freshman Monica Mills (East Hartford/East Hartford HS), junior Saryn Evans (Willimantic/Windham HS), first-year sophomore Kristina Knapp (East Hartford/E.O. Smith HS), and freshman Kelsey Watson (Bristol, NH/Newfound Regional HS). Running the DMR were first-year junior Nidia Gonzalez Lopez (Cromwell/Cromwell HS), freshman Nicole Stefanik (Coventry, RI/Coventry HS), senior Jessie Marshall (Yantic/Norwich Free Academy), and first-year junior Lindsay Raymond (Niantic/East Lyme HS).

Alston established a personal best of 9.09 when she finished seventh in the preliminaries of the 55 meter hurdles while Mills had her second-best mark of the season (34-6 ¾) when she placed ninth in the triple jump. She fell less than five inches shy eighth place and All-New England recognition.

Freshman Brittany Kitt (Bloomfield/Northwest Catholic HS) competed in both the shot and weight throw but did not finish in the scoring. Her throw of 42-7 ½ in the weight was nearly a foot farther than that of a week ago at the New England Alliance championship and marked the fourth straight week that she has established a PR in that event. It was her second straight throw of at least 40 feet.