Women's Track and Field Claims DePauw Invitational Title
GREENCASTLE, Ind. – The Taylor women's indoor track and field team finished its indoor regular season with a dominant victory at the DePauw Invitational on Saturday.
The Trojans won nine events in all, including every race from the 600-meter run and longer.
Freshman Rachel Blagg turned in an impressive performance on Saturday, shattering the Taylor record in the 800-meter with a time of 2:19.52, nearly two seconds better than the previous record. She also anchored the TU 4x400-meter relay team that narrowly missed the NAIA "B" standard qualification mark with a time of 4:04.72, 12 seconds clear of the next closest team.
Sophomore Alex Berends won the 3,000-meter run and hit the NAIA "A" standard qualification mark with a time of 10:17.84.
Senior Jane Hawks raced to a new personal record time of 3:06.38 en route to a victory in the 1,000-meter run.
Freshman Miriam Wood posted a new school record in the triple jump, besting her own record with a mark of 11.13 meters.
The Trojans took four of the top five spots in the 600-meter run with Katie DeHaan leading the way with a season-best mark of 1:39.99. Junior Abigail Phillips finished second behind DeHaan with a mark of 1:41.34.
Freshman Mae Elizabeth Gimre clocked a time of 5:22.82 in the mile run to claim the victory, finishing over 20 seconds ahead of the next closest competitor.
The Trojans continued the dominance in the 5,000-meter run as Taylor runners took the top five spots. Freshman Michelle Franch won the race by nearly 20 seconds with a time of 18:30.32 while Hannah Schroder, Taryn Seeland, Andrea Foster, and Anissa Richards rounded out the Taylor sweep of the top five.
Freshman Plenseh-Tay Sakeuh raced to yet another victory in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.94. Sakeuh also won the long jump with a leap of 5.41 meters.
Freshman Brianna Jordahl also had a solid day for the Trojans in field events, finishing third in the weight throw with a toss of 13.32 meters and adding a fourth place finish in the shot put with a heave of 11.18 meters.
The Trojans will now turn their attention to the NAIA Indoor Track and Field Championships slated for March 3-5 in Johnson City, Tennessee.