Final Results (.pdf)
LEXINGTON, Ky. - The IUPUI women's track and field team continued to round into early season form as the Jaguars competed at the Kentucky Invitational inside Nutter Fieldhouse on Saturday (Jan. 13). Junior
Allie Wright earned a top-10 finish in the mile and classmate
Amairany Cruz showed well in the 800m event against a strong field.
The Jaguars' day began with freshmen
Sarah Welsh and
Lana Pham participating in the high jump. Both cleared 1.51m (4' 11 1/2'') with Welsh doing so in fewer attempts to earn a higher finish.
On the track, freshman
Rachel Crawford was the Jags' top finisher in the 400m dash, notching a time of 1:02.33. In the 800, it was Cruz who led the way, posting a time of 2:16.61 to finish 12th.
Lauren Osterhout turned in a time of 2:22.54 to place 19th overall.
In the mile, Wright looked strong with a time of 5:02.71 for a tenth-place finish, finishing just more than a second off her personal best.
"Today was a great day to bust out something halfway fast to see where we're at training-wise," Wright said. "The race went out a lot slower than expected, but tactics were the main goal of today. Coach wanted me to just race smart and not worry about time goals. That'll come later in the season.
"This was a confidence building race after the horrendous IPFW meet earlier in the season. It was a great show out, all across the board and it definitely has me feeling excited for the remainder of the season."
Jessica Backherms finished her mile at 5:15.48 and
Marina Konow ran 5:26.85.
The Jaguars' 3,000m entries were led by freshman
Janine Orvis at 10:33.63 and senior
Haley Welch ran 10:40.36.
"Today was my first time running a 3K, so it was a new experience for me to run this event, especially with so many girls in my heat," Orvis said. "I think my start positioning was good because I was put on the outside of the line, so it was easy to get up front and compete.
"After that, I found my pace and think I ran a smart race. My teammates helped me push forward and give me a strong start to the season."
Orvis notched the tenth-best time in program history in her first collegiate 3K.
IUPUI will compete again next weekend at Fort Wayne, facing former assistant coach Ashley Botham, who recently took over the helm of the Mastodons program.
