Purdue Fort Wayne
Early Bird Relays
School Records Pace IPFW at Outdoor Opener
3/20/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Track and Field
March 20, 2010
Cincinnati, OH – The IPFW Mastodons got two school records from their field events, and seven top-five finishes, at the 2010 outdoor season opener at the University of Cincinnati Early Bird Relays.
Senior Sara Branam smashed the previous school record in the hammer throw, with a toss of 166-feet, 7-inches (50.78 meters), topping the previous school record of 141-4 (43.08 meters) set by Nicole Crone in 2004. With her toss, she placed fourth in the event.
Courtney Bowen, who set the indoor school record in the weight throw and indoor discus, needed just her first competition in the IPFW Blue and White to bring home a school record in the discus, with a heave of 144-9 (44.13 meters), over ten feet further than the previous record of 134-8 (41.05), which was set in 2006 by Hayley Boling. The toss earned her a second place finish in the field.
Felicia Mondry and Annina Gruber placed 1-2 in the 3,000-meter steeple chase, the former running a time of 11:31.83, and the latter 12:00.32.
Katy Moore placed second in the high jump, just missing her own school record with a leap of 5-2.25 (1.58 meters), the fourth highest clearance in school history, as she has cleared 5-3 on two separate occasions. She also placed 17th in the 400-meter run, clocking the one-lap race in a time of 1:03.74, becoming the sixth fastest quarter-miler in program history.
Whitney Lane placed third in the triple jump with a leap of 34-11.75 (10.66 meters), the third longest jump in program history, giving her five of the top six longest jumps in school history. She was joined by Theresa McHugh, who placed eighth with a leap of 32-5 (9.88 meters), as she became the fourth longest triple jumper in school history. McHugh also placed 28th in the long jump, when she leapt to a distance of 12-5.75 (3.80 meters).
After taking the entire cross country and indoor track and field seasons off, the twin sisters Crystina (Martinez) Ridenour, and Crystal (Martinez) Reichert tried out their new last names after getting married over the summer, and placed fourth and seventh, each, in the 5,000-meter run. In their first go-around in their last season of eligibility, Ridenour placed fourth in the field with a time of 17:19.50, the seventh fastest 5,000 ever run by an IPFW athlete, and her third fastest while wearing an IPFW singlet. Reichert’s seventh place finish came in a time of 17:43.90. Kim Matusik and Jessica McNulty placed 16th and 19th, in times of 18:54.60 and 20:02.90, respectively.
Freshman Becca Selner placed 10th in the 1,500-meter run, finishing the near-mile in a time of 4:55.70, the eighth fastest runner in the event in school history, while sophomore transfer Samantha Simonson finished two spots behind in a time of 4:58.18, as she became the ninth fastest runner in the event in school history.
Felicia Mondry finished just behind Simonson with a time of 4:58.40, placing her 13th, with Sarah Hutchings and Rachel Schultz finishing 20th (5:07.39) and 27th (5:13.48), respectively. Selner and Schultz also ran the 800, the freshman placing 22nd in a time of 2:31.00, and Schultz 30th in 2:37.66.
Bowen, in addition to her school record in the discus, placed 20th in the shot put with a toss of 11.09 meters (36-5.75), becoming the fifth best shot putter in school history, with Kierstyn Jones placing 32nd with a heave of 31-9.25 (9.68 meters), as she is now the 10th best shot put thrower in IPFW history. Courtney Trout placed 22nd in the javelin when she tossed the spear 67-2 (20.48), as Jones placed 25th with a toss of 50-4 (15.35 meters).
Lane and McHugh also teamed up to compete in both the 100- and 200-meter dashes. Lane placed 33rd in the 100 (14.05 seconds), and 34th in the 200 (28.37), while McHugh placed 42nd in the 100 (14.65), and 48th in the 200 (30.82). Those two, along with Moore, and Cari McAfoos placed eighth in the 4x400-meter relay, running the event in a time of 4:22.07, the third fastest team in school history.
The Mastodons return to action in two weeks when the team travels to West Lafayette, Indiana, competing in the Mike Poehlein Invitational, on the Purdue University campus on April 3.
~Dons~
