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WESTFIELD, Mass. -- The University of Southern Maine women's outdoor track and field team won four individual titles Saturday en route to a second place finish at the New England Alliance Championships hosted by Westfield State College.

Host Westfield State won the team title with 162.5 points, snapping Southern Maine's string of nine consecutive championships (2000-2008). USM was second with 136 points, followed by Rhode Island College with 111.5 points, Worcester State College with 94 and Eastern Connecticut State University with 66. The New England Alliance Championships involves schools from the Little East Conference (LEC) and the Massachusetts State College Athletic Conference (MASCAC). Scoring for each conference's respective championship will not be available until Sunday.

Winning titles for the Huskies were senior Gabby Cyr (Fort Kent, Maine) in the 1500 meters with a time of 4 minutes, 51.17 seconds, junior Emily Artesani (Orono, Maine) took first in the 400 meters with her time of 59.55, and freshmen Bethany Dumas (Augusta, Maine/Cony) and Hannah Patterson (Londonderry, N.H.) won the pole vault and discus events, respectively. Dumas cleared 3.12 meters (10-2 3/4) in the pole vault while Patterson threw the discus 37.49 meters (123-0).

Cyr, Artesani and Dumas also earned second place finishes in other events. Cyr took silver in the 5,000 meters with a time of 20:03.41, Artesani took second in the 200 meters with her time of 26.14, and Dumas was runner-up in the javelin with a personal best throw of 38.10 meters (125-0). Junior Sarah Myrick
(Weybridge, Vt./Middlebury Union) also had a second place result in the 3,000-meter steeplechase crossing the line in 12:29.03.

Sophomore Vanessa Baird (Dover-Foxcroft, Maine/Foxcroft Academy) had a strong day in the throws, placing third in the discus with a throw of 32.87 meters (107-10) and the shot put with a personal best mark of 10.78 meters (35-4 1/2), and finishing fourth in the hammer with a throw of 41.37 meters (135-9).
Dumas also earned a third place finish in the 300-meter hurdles with her time of 1:07.96. Sophomore Christina Connolly (Boise, Idaho) was third in the pole vault clearing 2.97 meters (9-9), and classmate Carly Dion (Biddeford, Maine) took third in the 800 meters finishing in 2:26.61.

Earning fourth place finishes were senior Katie Day (Hampden, Maine) in the javelin (35.06 meters/115-0) and sophomore Hillary Hall (Waldoboro,  Maine/Medomak Valley) in the high jump (1.55 meters/5-1). The Huskies return to action this Thursday through Saturday at the New England Division III Championships being held at Springfield College.