ROCHESTER, Mich. - The IU Indianapolis women's track and field team kicked off the 2026 Horizon League Outdoor Championships on Friday (May 8) at the Elaine Leigh Track and Field Complex. The Jaguars put four points in the scoring column fueled by senior Julie Smith's fifth-place finish in the 10,000m event to close opening night. 

Smith ran a steady race in her final collegiate 10K, ultimately crossing at 36:46.53 to capture a podium finish. Behind her, fellow senior Carina Alanis clocked a time of 38:42.61 under the lights. 

Earlier in the evening, the Jaguars entered four freshmen in the prelims of the 1,500m event with all four earning personal best efforts. Riley Flynn crossed at 4:51.99 to take eight seconds off her prior best and Kaylynn Bedel spun a time of 4:52.55 to shed three seconds off her personal best. AnnMarie Gibson finished at 4:55.16 to trim eight seconds off her previous best and Emily Bruns shed 10 seconds by crossing at 4:58.72. Flynn was the team's top finisher, placing 21st of the 34 preliminary entries with the top 12 advancing to Sunday's finals. 

Fellow rookie Elisa Algozine put up a solid start to her second career heptathlon, fueled by a personal best effort in the 100m hurdles to open the day. She finished her heat in a time of 18.98 seconds, taking more than a second off her previous best. She followed with a high jump mark of 1.51m (4' 11.5'') and just missed a new personal best in the shotput with a best throw of 7.68m (25' 2.5''). She closed day one with a 200m run in 28.70 seconds, missing a new personal record by less than a second. 

Algozine finished day one with 1,980 points and ranks 13th among the 15 competitors with three events remaining. She'll begin action at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday with her teammates beginning their events at noon.