Final Results (.pdf)
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. - The IUPUI women's track and field squad capped a banner weekend at the Gibson Invitational on Saturday (Apr. 7), clocking a slew of personal bests and season bests for the outdoor season.
Senior
Sarah Childs won her heat of the 400m event and placed sixth overall in her first career open 400. Her time of 1:02.02, putting her sixth on the program's all-time list.
"It was really fun to go out there today and run my first open 400 as a senior," Childs said. "I just focused on passing girls one by one until I reached the finish."
In the 800, junior
Amairany Cruz placed eighth overall and ran a season best time of 2:16.17. Senior
Haley Welch ran a personal best time of 2:17.04 to place tenth overall and moving her to fifth on the program's all-time list. Senior
Lauren Osterhout also ran a season best time of 2:19.72.
IUPUI really showcased some depth in the 1,500m event, keyed by junior
Allie Wright, who finished seventh at 4:44.39. Junior
Jessica Backherms ran a personal best time of 4:48.21, taking more than four seconds off her previous best. Behind her, freshman
Mya Zajakowski clocked a personal best time of 4:52.16 in the same heat as Backherms.
"I was really excited going into the race because it was the perfect day to run a good time and I think I ended up pulling off a pretty decent race," Backherms said. "It was really great to have Mya in the race next to me because she really helped me kick it in for the finish. I'm excited to see what's left for the rest of the season."
In the 100m hurdles, both
Beth Parks and
Bailey Webber set new personal best marks with the former running a time of 17.19. Webber came in at 17.67, just edging her previous best mark. Webber just missed setting a new PR in the 400m hurdles as well, running 1:09.67 in a sixth-place finish.
Junior
Alexis Lewandowski made her season debut in the 3,000m steeplechase, posting a time of 11:52.32.
Parks' busy day also included competing in the long jump and shot put. In the long jump, she registered a mark of 4.58m (15' 0.5'') while jumping into the wind. In the shot put, her best throw was 7.22m (23' 8.25'').
Collectively, IUPUI finished seventh of the seven teams competing with 19 points. Host Indiana State cruised to the team title with 263 points.
