AZUSA, Calif. - Elle Marsyla broke her own program record in the 5000 meters by 20 seconds on Friday and Riley Capuano set a new mark in the 1500 meters on Saturday to highlight the performance of the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps women's track and field team at the Franson Last Chance Meet hosted by Azusa Pacific this weekend. 

Marsyla finished with a 16:13.26 in the 5000, shattering her previous CMS record of 16:33.31 set at the Occidental Distance Carnival on March 14. In between, she added a new CMS standard in the 10000 meters, also at Azusa Pacific, with a time of 33:51.05. 

Marsyla now has the No. 1 time this season in Division III, two seconds ahead of Haley Schoenegge of Vassar, and also has the No. 1 time in the 10000 meters as well. She stands in excellent position to challenge for one or both national titles in two weeks at the NCAA Championships in La Crosse, Wisconsin. Marsyla finished seventh at the NCAA Division III Championships in the fall, earning All-America honors and helping CMS to a third-place team finish. 

Capuano, who was also an All-American for the CMS cross country team in the fall for the third time in her career, earned a 4:23.54 in the 1500 at the Franson Last Chance Meet. That eclipsed the previous program best of 4:25.36, set by Laura Zimmer in 2024. 

Capuano now stands in third place nationally in the 1500 with her 4:23.54, with Schoenegge placing first with a 4:16.13 and Lucinda Laughlin of WashU at 4:20.98. When she last competed in track and field as a sophomore, Capuano finished second in the 1500 meters at the 2024 NCAA Championships with a 4:28.66, before studying abroad in the spring as a junior. 

Sadie Drucker also competed in the 1500 at the Franson Last Chance Meet and earned a 4:31.30, taking over four seconds off her previous PR and moving up from tenth to seventh in CMS history, while placing 24th nationally. Hope Dragseth was in action in the 5000 and improved her personal best by seven seconds to 16:44.34, moving up to sixth in CMS annals and 25th in the nation. 

Madeline Seifert set a new PR in the pole vault for the Athenas as well, clearing 12'6.25", just ahead of her previous best of 12'5.5", which she had accomplished on multiple occasions. Seifert, who ranks third in CMS history, now places 19th in Division III, just above the cutline to earn a qualification to the NCAA Championships. 

CMS has one more regular season meet at the Redlands Final Qualifier this week as the Athenas try to earn qualifying marks by ranking in the top 22 in the nation. Marsyla and Capuano have their trips all but booked now that most conference championships have been completed, as does Josephine Jett (sixth in 100 hurdles, sixth in 200 meters, 11th in 100 meters), and Sophia Laudi (third in javelin).

Seifert (19th in pole vault), Dragseth (22nd in the 10000, 25th in 5000), Drucker (24th in 1500), Olivia Backholm (26th in the steeplechase), Emily Kendrick (37th in steeplechase), and Shriya Velichala (37th in 400 hurdles) will also try to get or stay above the cutline as the Athenas will try to add to their traveling party and compete for a podium finish at nationals (marks just outside the cutline often can result in invitations as well, as qualifying athletes will sometimes decline to participate in events due to injury, or to focus on their stronger events).