Indiana women’s track and field traveled to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to compete in the Penn Relays against 181 schools this past weekend. The Penn Relays was the penultimate meet of the regular season and facing that amount of schools was just what Indiana needed going into the postseason.
The meet began Thursday evening with the women’s 3000-meter steeplechase. Sophomore Alyssa Skorge finished in 20th place with a time of 10:44.60.
In the 5000-meter run, freshman Mikaela Ramirez and sophomore Mariah Wehrle both locked down personal records and came in ninth and tenth place, respectively. Ramirez finished in ninth with a time of 16:18.37, and Wehrle came in right behind with a time of 16:22.29.
Senior Ana Barrott competed in the 10000-meter run and finished with a time of 34:34.75, which was good for a personal record and ninth place in the event.
Indiana broke a school record in the Distance Medley Championship of America Relay with a time of 10:59.54, finishing in third place. Seniors Hannah Stoffel and Kelly Mindak, sophomore Morgan Snowand junior Bailey Hertenstein were all part of the record-breaking relay.
The 4x1500 meter Championship of America Relay team consisting of Mindak, senior Sarah Schmitt, Stoffel and Hertenstein finished in fourth place and hit a season-best during the race with a time of 17:25.00.
The 4x800 meter Championship of America Relay finished in 10th place with sophomores Maria Anderson and Shynae Deas and freshmen Elizabeth Stanhope and Mindak competing. The 4x400 meter Championship of America Relay team of junior Lauren Thomas, Snow, Anderson and Stanhope finished in 16th place with a time of 3:46.53.
Indiana saw a lot of success with its field athletes over the weekend as well, with noteworthy performances from freshman Jayden Ulrich in the women’s college discus throw and in the women’s shot put championship. Ulrich took first place in the college discus throw with a heave of 51.51 meters, and in the shot put championship, Ulrich secured fourth place with her throw of 17.42 meters to set a new personal record.
“I think just being in the right mentality for meets and knowing what I have to do when I get there has played a big part,” Ulrich said about her success. “I couldn’t be happier with any of the meets that I’ve had in shot put or discus.”
Senior Madison Pollard also found success in both events. Pollard finished in fifth place in the college discus throw with her throw of 49.28 meters. In the shot put championship, she threw for a season-best of 17.45 meters to lock down third place.
Sophomore Mahogany Jenkins also competed well in both of her events. In the college triple jump, Jenkins took home third place with leaps of 12.43 meters. In the high jump championship, Jenkins soared over the bar to take fourth place with a jump of 1.76 meters.
Freshman Makayla Hunter competed in the women’s javelin throw, launching the javelin 43.09 meters to take home fourth place.
Indiana next competes in the Billy Hayes Invitational on May 6 in Bloomington.
