EMMITSBURG, Md. (May 1, 2010) - It was a blazing hot opening day for the 2010 Northeast Conference Outdoor Track & Field championships, but the the Saint Francis women's track & field team found ways to beat the heat to put there team near the top of the leaderboard after one day of competition at Mount St. Mary's.

The Red Flash sit in third place after one day of competition, having earned 24 points on Saturday.

Christin Bridge (Gibsonia, Pa./Pine-Richland) (Gibsonia, Pa./Pine-Richland) won the NEC championship in the Shot Put for the second consecutive season, making her the only woman since 1999 to win the event in two consecutive NEC championships, and is the first repeat champion in the field for the Red Flash women since Mandy Klingensmith won the Hammer Throw twice in a row in 2006 and 2007.

Bridge's put was 14.54m/47'8.50" and bested the next closest competitor by a full 1.32m.  She will look to wrap up her second consecutive championship in the Discus tomorrow.

The other high scorer for the Flash on Saturday was senior Anna Hoffman (Enon Valley, Pa./Mohawk) (Enon Valley, Pa./Mohawk), who took second in the 10,000m with a time of 39:00.62.  After the first 5000m were completed, only Hoffman and Brecka Drager (Wagner) remained from what was once the starting pack.  However, Drager was able to pull away and ultimately take the victory.

"Anna did an excellent job," said Red Flash head coach Gordon Thomson.  "The heat played a big factor in the race, but she ran into an excellent athlete [in Drager].  My hat's off to both of them, the heat made it very difficult."

The only other scoring event for the Red Flash on Saturday was the 4x800m team, which consisted of Danielle Williams (Altoona, Pa./Bishop Guilfoyle) (Altoona, Pa./Bishop Guilfoyle), Hannah Reist (Cleona, Pa./Cedar Crest) (Cleona, Pa./Cedar Crest), Sarah Frydrych (Wilmington, Del./St. Mark's) (Wilmington, Del./St. Mark's), and Jennifer Haffner (Pittsburgh, Pa./Baldwin) and took third with a time of 9:38.05.  The group was in fifth place with 100 meters to go, but Haffner's kick down the stretch pushed her past the closers for Quinnipiac and Long Island to give the Red Flash the bronze.

Haffner also authored one of the best individual performances of the day for the Red Flash, qualifying for the finals in the 800m with a time of 2:16.78, the second-best time among all athletes in the preliminary.  The time also marks a new PR for the freshman.

"She's a battler," said Thomson.  "She toughed it out and notched a big PR."

Katie Cianci (Greenville, Pa./Kennedy Catholic) (Greenville, Pa./Kennedy Catholic) also qualified for the finals of a middle distance event, earning an automatic qualifier in the 1500m by taking second place in her heat.  Cianci finished the race with a time of 4:57.42.  Sprinter Alexis Hurd (Manchester, Md./North Carroll) qualified for the finals of the 100m with a time of 12.55, and was the unfortunate victim of fate when she was the first one out in the 200m preliminary (ninth place, 26.04) and the long jump final (ninth place, 5.36m).

The Red Flash resume competition tomorrow at 10 a.m.