Hanson's Arouca hitting her stride
March 1, 2009
By Monique Walker, Globe Staff
Westfield State junior Kerry Arouca of Hanson finished second at the New England Division 3 Championships recently in the mile and was selected the Massachusetts State College Athletic Conference women's indoor track and field athlete of the week.
Arouca was second in the mile with a school record time of 5 minutes, 3.90 seconds at the New England Division 3 Championships, as the Owls came in 12th overall. Arouca, who graduated from Whitman-Hanson, earned All-New England honors in the mile and provisionally qualified for the NCAA Division III national championships.
Westfield State coach Sean O'Brien said Arouca has been progressing each year and, after last spring's outdoor season, really came on strong this year.
"She's a great athlete," O'Brien said. "I think she realized how good she could be at the end of outdoors last year, so she really got down to business over the summer and put in a lot of miles, and she's just been phenomenal."
As a team, O'Brien said his group was fatigued at the Division 3 meet following its conference meet. This week Arouca is part of the handful of Owls who will be participating at the All New England Championships at Boston University.