WOMEN'S TRACK AND FIELD POSTS BLAZING TIMES AT MONTREAT COLLEGE INVITATIONAL

Photo Credit: Jan Yinger

Black Mountain, NC- The women's track and field team returned to the track looking to build on the success the team saw in their first meet. Tennessee Wesleyan saw three school records fall at the Montreat College Invitational.

The Saturday meet started off with Rachel Gallison in the 3000m Steeplechase, jumping over the hurdle and through the water in 12:55.94, slotting her in second place in the event. The 1500m Race saw a 5-6 finish by the Lady Bulldogs as Hannah Rhodes (5:02.95) and Keupper Feehan (5:06.07) crossed the line back-to-back, respectively.

Gracie Smith used a 17.38 second time to go the 100m distance over the hurdles, finishing fifth place in the event. In the 400m Race, Tranico Parson was the fifth person to cross the line, coming in at a time of 1:02.21. Malika Reviere finished 12th in the event with a time of 1:09.00.

The school record holder in the 100m Dash, Alexandria Johnson, came in fourth place at the meet, running a time of 12.40 to accomplish the spot. Alexis Lankford, the Indoor 100m Dash record holder, finished in 11th place in 12.86 seconds. Representing TWU in the 800m Race was Rosa Cisneros, who finished 12th with a time of 2:34.33 and Bailey Condone with a time of 2:38.42 to finish in 15th.

One of the three school records which fell on the day came in the 200m Dash. Johnson added her name to another place in the record books, previously breaking the school record in the 100m Dash the week before, as her 25.43 time in the event, good enough for third place, etched her name as the top time. Four other members of the team finished in the top 20 of the event: Els Van Hooijdonk (5th, 25.84), Parson (12th, 27.68), Bri Williams (14th, 28.00) and Dasha Varner (20th, 29.31).

The final track event was the 4x400m Relay and it was the second school record to fall on the day. The team of Feehan, Johnson, Hooijdonk and Rhodes crossed the finish in 4:03.18, giving the team a second place designation. The second team of Parson, Cisneros, Condone and Karlie Yinger used a 4:23.53 time to finish seventh in the event.

On the field side, the day started with the jumping events: the Triple Jump, Long Jump and High Jump. In the High Jump, Smith used a 1.45m mark to finish seventh. It was a rough outing in the Long Jump for Williams as her 4.27m mark placed her 17th. Redemption came for Williams in the Triple Jump though, as she finished in the top 10 with her mark of 9.56m to give the Lady Bulldogs a second member in the top 10 to go along with Hooijdonk's fourth place finish (10.43m).

The star shining the brightest though belonged to Rachel Lawhorn. Competing in three events, Lawhorn saw her name in the number one spot on all three. In the Discus, the third school record to fall, Lawhorn threw a 41.84 to shatter the record and finish in first. Her next event, the Shot Put, saw her throw a 12.82m mark to come out on top in the event. The Javelin saw three throwers in the top 10, beginning with Lawhorn's throw of 33.13 meters, winning the event by 4.11 meters. Olivia Fisher (23.22m, 7th) and Rhodes (21.76, 9th) joined Lawhorn in the top 10. The performance by Lawhorn earned her Appalachian Athletic Conference Women's Field Athlete of the Week for the second time in a row.

The team takes a week off before returning to the University of Cumberlands Invitational in Williamsburg, KY. The meet is set for April 13-14.