Women's Track and Field Makes Strides at Notre Dame Invitational

Complete Results

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (EMUEagles.com)—Eastern Michigan University's women's track and field team took on four highly-touted opponents at the Notre Dame Invitational, Jan. 24, coming away with a fifth place finish after amassing 53.5 points over the course of the day. Purdue took the overall victory with 124 points, followed by Notre Dame (100), Michigan State (98), and Indiana State (89.5).

"We are a bit disappointed with our team placement, but pleased with the progress of our group overall," commented Head Coach Sue Parks. "We knew that it was going to be a tough challenge for us, as we were competing against the NCAA Cross Country Champions in Michigan State on the distance side and some strong sprinters and field athletes from the other teams. But we are keeping our focus on the MAC Championships, and we hope to have everyone healthy and ready to go Feb. 27-28 in Mt. Pleasant."

Eastern had just one victory throughout the day's events, but had an exceptional turnout as much of the team posted personal bests in their races or field events. Ellie Braidic (Pandora, Ohio-Pandora-Gilboa) was the only member of the Green and White to garner a win, tying for first in the pole vault with a jump of 4 meters/13 feet 1.50-inches. Natalie Uy (Kettering, Ohio-Fairmont) also cleared the four-meter barrier, but did so in more attempts than her teammate and finished in third. Uy also hit a big personal record in the 60m hurdles, qualifying for the finals with the fastest mark of her career at 8.84 seconds. Uy went on to finish sixth, coming close to her previous mark at 8.85 seconds, and another career best came in the preliminaries from Tifani Byrd (Toms River, N.J.-Toms River North) in 9.00 seconds.

Another Eagle qualified to the finals in the 60m dash, with Aaliyah McKinney (South Bend, Ind.-John Adams) putting on a fine performance in front of a hometown crowd. McKinney's qualifying mark was 7.74 seconds, but she bested that in the championship heat in 7.64 seconds. The South Bend, Ind. native went on to finish not far off her personal best in the 200m, crossing the line in 24.86 seconds for 11^th while freshman Jasmine Jones (Greensburg, Pa.-Hempfield Area) took 13^th in 25.22 seconds.

A pair of career bests were notched in the 400m, led by Chante Roberts (Lansing, Mich.-Waverly) shaving nearly a second and half off her mark from earlier this season to finish in 56.01 seconds for seventh place. Not far behind was Morgan Yeadon (Indianapolis, Ind.-Pike), whose personal best came by way of a ninth-place finish in 56.69 seconds.

Agata Klimovich (Minsk, Belarus-Minsk School of Olympic Reserve) garnered fourth in the 600m run, clocking in at 1:33.46, followed by Dayna Hurd (Carson, Calif.-Carson) and Maya Carter (Racine, Wis.-Case) cutting off a few seconds from their performance just a week ago for 10^th and 13^th, respectively.

In her second collegiate 800m, Sofie Gallein (Gits, Belgium-University of Leuven) posted a time of 2:16.80 to improve on her winning mark from the EMU Quadrangular, Jan. 9. Gallein finished eighth in a tough field, and was followed by Taylor Knoll (Warren, Mich.-Mott (Lansing CC)) with a personal best of 2:18.32, cutting almost 10 seconds off her previous time. The pair also competed in the mile run, achieving career bests along with Jordann McDermitt (Davison, Mich.-Davison) in the event. Gallein and McDermitt led the Eagles in 4:48.92 and 4:49.14, respectively, to finish fourth and fifth, while Knoll dipped below the five-minute mark for the first time in her career, taking eighth in 4:59.61. Additionally, Gallein and McDermitt's marks rank as the seventh and eighth fastest times in EMU laurels.

McDermitt did not finish etching her name into EMU history with the mile run. She went on to compete in the 3000m run, finishing fourth in 9:43.41, which ranks sixth all-time in the record book. Natalie Cizmas (Clinton Twp., Mich.-Chippewa Valley) added another strong performance in the 3000m, cutting 15 seconds off her mark from two weeks ago for an 11^th-place finish in 9:57.67.

Action on the track wrapped up with the 4x400m relay, in which Jones, Roberts, Klimovich, and Iesha Hardiman (Santa Clara, Calif.-Adrian Wilcox) teamed up to finish in 3:51.14 for fifth.

In the field events, freshman Dace Dreimane (Ventspils, Latvia-Ventspils Gymnasium No. 1) had another successful showing. The Latvian native finished second in the triple jump, matching the winning mark of 12.33 meters/40 feet 5.50-inches, while she also took third in the triple jump with a leap of 5.83 meters/19 feet 1.25-inches. In the high jump, Sarah Chauchard (Montpellier, France-University of Montpellier) took third at 1.65 meters/5 feet 5-inches, while Kristina Coyne (Pittsburgh, Pa.-Chartiers Valley) finished sixth with a jump of 1.60 meters/5 feet 3-inches.

Chauchard also competed in the shot put, pacing the Eagles with a throw of 12.53 meters/41 feet 1.50-inches for 12^th, while Darcie Marion (Adrian , Mich.-Madison) placed 16^th. In the weight throw, Helga Volgyi (Szombathely, Hungary-Savaria Technical College) led the way for the Green and White, with a launch of 15.31 meters/50 feet 2-inches for 12th. Megan Pendleton (Lindsey, Ohio-Woodmore) had a personal-best 13.81-meter/45-foot 3-inch throw, with Marion taking 17^th at 13.64 meters/44 feet 9-inches and Reagan Briggs (Bloomdale, Ohio-Elmwood) posting a career best of 13.19 meters/43 feet 3-inches for 18^th.

Eastern will return to Michigan for its next competition, taking on Mid-American Conference foe Central Michigan University in an away dual in Mt. Pleasant, Mich. The tangle between the two conference opponents will take place Friday, Jan. 30.

EMU Individual Results (* signifies personal best, ^ is a MAC qualifying mark)

	Final Mark	Prelim Mark
60m Dash
6. McKinney, Aaliyah	7.64	7.74q
10. Jones, Jasmine		7.70
23. Threatt, Tericka		8.19

200m Dash
11. McKinney, Aaliyah	24.86
13. Jones, Jasmine	25.22

400m Dash
7. Roberts, Chante	56.01*^
9. Yeadon, Morgan	56.69*
11. Hardiman, Iesha	57.53

600m Run
4. Klimovich, Agata	1:33.46*
10. Hurd, Dayna	1:38.29*
13. Carter, Maya	1:41.74*
14. Mesa, Claire	1:41.76*

800m Run
8. Gallein, Sofie	2:16.80*
11. Knoll, Taylor	2:18.32*
13. Quaintance, Rebecca	2:23.26

Mile Run
4. Gallein, Sofie	4:48.92*^
5. McDermitt, Jordann	4:49.14*^
8. Knoll, Taylor	4:59.61*
12. Bentzley, Danielle	5:09.31*
16. Pottschmidt, Luaren	5:16.56*

3000m Run
4. McDermitt, Jordann	9:43.41*^
11. Cizmas, Natalie	9:57.67*
17. Frauhammer, Amy	10:22.59*
20. Aldrich, Anna	10:42.88*

60m Hurdles
6. Uy, Natalie	8.85	8.84*q
10. Byrd, Tifani		9.00*

4x400m Relay
5. Hardiman, Jones, Roberts, Klimovich	3:51.14
10. Hurd, Carter, Quaintance, Mesa	4:02.67

High Jump
3. Chauchard, Sarah	1.65m/5-05.00
6. Coyne, Kristina	J1.60m/5-03.00

Pole Vault
1. Braidic, Ellie	4.00m/13-01.50^
3. Uy, Natalie	J4.00m/13-01.50^

Long Jump
3. Dreimane, Dace	5.83m/19-01.25*^
9. Pollatz, Janina	5.36m/17-07.00

Triple Jump
2. Dreimane, Dace	J12.33m/40-05.50^
9. Coyne, Kristina	10.80m/35-05.25

Shot Put
12. Chauchard, Sarah	12.53m/41-01.50
16. Marion, Darcie	11.02m/36-02

Weight Throw
12. Volgyi, Helga	15.30m/50-02.00*
16. Pendleton, Megan	13.81m/45-03.00*
17. Marion, Darcie	13.64m/44-09.00
18. Briggs, Reagan	13.19m/43-03.00*
21. Waisner, Adrienne	12.85m/42-02.00

Women's Track and Field Makes Strides at Notre Dame Invitational

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Players Mentioned

Ellie Braidic

Reagan Briggs

Tifani Byrd

Maya Carter

Sarah Chauchard

Natalie Cizmas

Kristina Coyne

Dace Dreimane

Sofie Gallein

Iesha Hardiman

Dayna Hurd

Jasmine Jones

Agata Klimovich

Taylor Knoll

Darcie Marion

Jordann McDermitt

Aaliyah McKinney

Megan Pendleton

Chante Roberts

Natalie Uy

Helga Volgyi

Morgan Yeadon

Eastern Michigan Athletics