PIRINELLI, VENEZIA EARN CONFERENCE ACCOLADES

Feb. 5: Alyssa Pirinelli continued to excel in the throws, winning the shot put title and finishing second in the weight to highlight St. Lawrence performances at the Syracuse Invitational on Saturday and was one of two Saints to earn weekly Liberty League honors Monday afternoon.

Pirinelli remained unbeaten in the shot this season with a 13.24 meter (43-05.25) throw, finishing over a half meter ahead of Syracuse’s Monica Ridgeway, who threw 12.71. Ridgeway won the weight with Pirinelli finishing second with a 14.05 meter throw. Her performance on Saturday earned her Liberty League "Field Performer of the Week" honors for the fourth time this season.

Pirinelli has won the shot competition in all but two indoor meets thus far in her career. She was 32nd overall, but the top Division III competitor, in the 2007 New Balance Games and finished third in the NCAA Division III championships last season.

Other top field event finishes for the Saints included good showings by Jessica Venezia in both the triple and long jumps. Venezia was third with a 11.08 series (36.4.25) in the triple jump and was fifth in the long jump with a 4.99 (16-4.25) jump. Both of Venezia's performances were her collegiate personal records thus far. Her efforts for the Saints on Saturday were noted by the conference, as she was named Liberty League Rookie of the Week for the third time in 2007-2008.

Multi-athlete Whitney Koch finished sixth with a 4.87 meter jump (15.11.75) in the long jump, also a PR. Holly Irion added an eighth in the weight with a 11.05 meter throw.

Koch also ran 1:02.95 for her best collegiate time in a section of the collegiate 400 and Libby Fellows ran 1:04.24 for her best time this season in the 400. The team of Chelsea McKenzie, Alexis Nuffer, Kelsey Rebehn and Elizabeth Atwood ran 4:19.12, finishing fourth in the first section of the 4x400 relay and turning in a season's best time in that event.

Wendy Pavlus finished seventh in the 1000 in 3:07.83 and Katrinia Loignon was 11^th in the mile. Beth Muller ran 27.78 for her best time thus far in the 200, winning her section with Lindsey Taylor second in 28.16. Alexis Nuffer was third in her section of the 500 in 1:22.35 with Kelsey Rebehn fourth in 1:23.06 and Chelsea McKenzie fifth in the same section. Michelle Laframboise was second in her section of the 1000 in 3:15.95

The Saints will run at the New Balance Games at the Armory in New York City Friday and Saturday and will host the Liberty League Championships on Feb. 16.