Road Stretch Continues for Track and Field

Friday, February 6

Akron, Ohio

5 p.m.

Purdue Fort Wayne

Akron Invitational

2/5/2015 2:50:00 PM | Women's Track and Field

FORT WAYNE, Ind. – Select members from IPFW women's track and field team will head out on the road this weekend as they travel to Akron, Ohio for the Akron Invitational on Friday, February 6 and Saturday, February 7 at Stile Athletics Field House. Additionally, sophomore Brittany Beard will compete in the one mile race at the Meyo Invitational at Notre Dame on Saturday morning.

Meet: Akron Invitational
When: Friday, Feb 6 | 5 p.m. & Saturday, Feb 7 | 11 a.m.
Where: Akron, Ohio | Stile Athletics Field House

Freshman Jenna Quillen will participate in the Pentathlon on Friday evening in Akron. Three other athletes—Kiawna Cottrell, Kyley Marano and Sara Crawford--will compete in the Saturday portion of the event in Akron, Ohio.

Beard—who set the program mark for the 800-meter run in December with a time of 2:17.20—will try to top her career-best time of 5:00.47 in the mile on Saturday at Notre Dame. She has a chance to break another school record if she can top the time of 4:59.53

LAST TIME OUT
IPFW began its month-long road trip to wrap up the indoor season on Friday, January 30 at the Ohio State Invitational at French Field House.

Cottrell continued her impressive first-year campaign, breaking a school record in the long jump that she had set in the first meet of the year back in December. The first-year athlete bested the school record of 5.09 meters (16-7.75) that she set at the Mastodon Open back in December, with her longest jump on the day at 5.22 meters (17-01.50) earning her a fourth-place finish. The performance came just a week after Cottrell crushed the school record in the 200-meter dash while tying the 60-meter dash mark. The freshman has been versatile from week to week, competing in both the sprinting and field events at different points in the indoor season.
Beard, who returned to the track in Ohio after an illness, earned a second-place finish in 800-meter run with a time of 2:19:57.
The 'Dons top distance medley relay team of Beard, Sydney Strang, Kayla McGurk and Tori Nida posted the best time of the year in the event with a 12:55.06.

WHO TO WATCH FOR
Despite being a young squad with 24 underclassmen on a 27-person roster, a strong group of sophomores will lead the way this season.

Nida, Marano and Beard are all key returnees for the Blue and White as the trio were a part of last year's 4x400m relay that just missed on setting the program record a season ago. Nida also recorded team season-bests a year ago in the 400-meter dash with a time of 1:01.06, while Marano turned in team-bests in the 200-meter dash (26.95) and high jump (5-4.25/1.63m).

Alexis Wygant was a stud in her first year for IPFW with indoor season-bests in the long jump (14-7/1.63m), triple jump (31-3/9.52m) and pentathlon (2274).

Junior Andrea Bell, a veteran on this year's team, will be in the forefront for distance running as she recorded a team-best time of 18:24.24 in the 5,000-meter event during the 2013-14 indoor season.

~ Feel the Rumble ~