LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ - The Iona College women's outdoor track and field team performed on the first day of the 2010 MAAC Championships hosted by Rider University.  With competitors in three of the six events on Saturday, senior Samantha Tibbitts earned and individual title in the 10,000-meter run while the Gaels also captured first place in the 4x800-meter relay event.

Tibbits joined graduate Anna Holm-Joergensen and classmate Samone Brockett as the top three performers in the 10k.  The Gael trio finished within a half a second of each other and 22 seconds ahead of the fourth place finisher in the event.   Tibbits winning time came in 42:56.34.  Senior Clare Halligan finished eighth overall in the event.

Juniors Kristen Peluso, Chelsea Borbolla and Chelsea Brisman teamed with freshman Luci McLoughlin in winning the 4x800 in 9:19.03.  Iona finished two seconds ahead of Marist to earn the event championship.

Junior Natalie Finnerty also earned All-MAAC honors with her third place finish in the 3000-meter steeplechase.  She finished with a time of 11:42.26.  Freshman Erin Brady was eighth overall in the event.

The Gaels stand in third place behind host Rider and Manhattan with the completion of the championship coming on Sunday.