WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - IU Indianapolis women's track standout Wini Barnett put up a standout effort as she and two teammates competed at the Wake Forest Invitational on Thursday night (Apr. 16). Barnett earned a runner-up finish in her heat of the 800m event, posting the second-fastest time in program history by crossing at 2:12.08. She shed more than four seconds off her previous best and finished just more than one-tenth of a second off the school record. 

"(Coach McDaniel) and I have been really working on getting a quicker first lap, so I tried it today and we knew we would be okay with whatever happened after that. So I went for it and then just held on for dear life for the second lap."

Barnett led halfway through the race before yielding the top spot during the final lap. 

Sophomore Ella Colclesser followed with a personal best effort in the 3,000m steeplechase with a time of 11:26.38, taking nearly a half second off her prior best. Senior Julie Smith capped the evening with a season-best 5,000m time of 17:53.27, missing her personal best by eight seconds. 

Earlier in the day freshman Elisa Algozine kicked off her first collegiate heptathlon, competing in four events on day one of Indiana State's Gibson Invitational. Algozine, who was recruited primarily as a high jumper, participated in the opening four events of the heptathlon on the meet's opening day. 

She opened with a personal best time of 20.09 seconds in the 100m hurdles in just her second career entry in the event before failing to clear a bar in the high jump. She followed with a best mark of 7.72m (25' 4'') in her first career shot put and closed the day with a time of 27.76 seconds in the 200m event. 

"Competing in the multis for the first time did not go as well as I would have liked, but I think after my first time I will have a better understanding of what I need to do to improve," Algozine said. "I am grateful and excited to have this opportunity to try new events that I would not have tried before."

Algozine finished day one with 1,326 points, ranking 25th among the 29 athletes competing. 

Algozine and small group of distance runners are slated to compete on Friday (Apr. 17) at Indiana State's Gibson Invitational.