Moon Township, Pa. - The Robert Morris University women's indoor track & field team concluded its 2010-11 campaign this weekend by finishing sixth at the 2011 Northeast Conference Indoor Track & Field Championships in Landover, Md.

The Colonials finished with 45 points, with Long Island taking home the team title with 138 points. Rounding out the top five were Monmouth (136), Mount St. Mary's (91), Sacred Heart (74) and Saint Francis (Pa.) (70).

Freshman Merel Van Steenbergen (Boskoop, Netherlands / Coenecopp College Waddinxveen) continued her dominant first season in the collegiate ranks by being named the 2011 NEC Most Outstanding Rookie Performer. The honor comes on the heels of a 2010 cross country season in which she was named the NEC Freshman of the Year.

Van Steenbergen took home All-NEC honors in a pair of events, winning the 5,000-meter run while finishing second in the 3,000-meter.

In the 5,000-meter, Van Steenbergen finished with a time of 17:17.02 to not only qualify for the IC4A/ECAC Championships but break her own school record. On Jan. 15, 2011, Van Steenbergen posted a new school record in the event with a time of 18:00.18, only to shatter the mark at the NEC Indoor Track & Field Championships.

In the 3,000-meter run Van Steenbergen posted a time of 10:07.97, just 0.51 seconds off the pace of Kimberly DeLoreto of Sacred Heart, who won the event with a time of 10:07.46. 

Also in the track events a trio of Colonials finished in the top seven in the 60-meter hurdles. Junior Hillary Monger (Reading, Pa. / Holy Name) posted a time of 8.96 seconds to finish fourth, and she was followed by sophomores Taylor Crawford (Woodbury, Pa. / Northern Bradford) and Nadia McKenna (Reading, Pa. / Governor Mifflin). Crawford finished fifth with a time of 9.11 seconds, while McKenna finished seventh with a time of 9.17 seconds.

In the field events, sophomore Casey Folga (Erie, Pa. / Harborcreek) finished fourth in the pole vault thanks to a leap of 3.05 meters (10'0"), while junior Lakeshia McCloud (Bath, N.Y. / Haverling) finished eighth in the triple jump with a leap of 11.13 meters (36'6.25").