TU Claims Five Victories at IWU Invite

MARION, Ind. – The Taylor women's track and field team turned in exciting performances at the Indiana Wesleyan Invitational Saturday afternoon. The Trojans ended the day with five first-place finishes, 17 top-five finishes and hit four NAIA National Qualifying Standards.

TU's stellar 4x800-meter relay team consisted of four experienced returners. The squad kicked off the indoor season ready to roll as Abbey Brennan, Giovanna Domene, Corinne O'Leary and Brooke Studnicki won first place and qualified for nationals with A-standard in a time of 9:30.02.

The Trojans finished first and second in the 60-meter hurdles as Patience Sakeuh and Audrey Altum clocked times of 9.12 and 9.14 in finals. Sakeuh raced a blazing time of 8.99 in prelims to earn her an automatic qualifying bid to NAIA Nationals.

Abbey Brennan hit the NAIA National A-standard in the 800-meters. The senior cruised to second place with a time of 2:17.42. Brooke Studnicki finished steps behind in third place, hitting B-standard and clocking a time of 2:18.87.

The Taylor 400-meter squad ran lights out as three women claimed top-five spots. Eden Siples won first place, clocking a time of 1:01.47. Ashley Hall ended second overall with a time of 1:03.15. Mikayla Ellis grabbed fifth place in 1:03.96.

The TU ladies had a dominant performance in the mile, as five Trojans finished in the top-10. Ahna VanderWall and Corinne O'Leary ended stride for stride, claiming second place in 5:19.00 and third place in 5:19.02 respectively. Three freshmen debuted their indoor careers including Audrey Brinkruff who finished fifth in 5:30.26, Elayna Kitt claimed seventh place with a time of 5:31.90 and Annika Erickson grabbed ninth place in 5:44.26.

In the 60-meter dash, Patience Sakeuh cruised to second place overall with a time of 7.93. Ashley Hall, Eden Siples and Audrey Altum finished in sixth, seventh and eighth place respectively. Ashley Hall later turned in a 10th place finish in the 200-meter dash, clocking a time of 27.80.

Lynae Ackley raced to a standout victory in the 3,000-meters as the freshman recorded a time of 10:53.90.

Freshman Betsy Underwood vaulted to a second-place finish and cleared 2.82-meters in the pole vault in her first meet of her collegiate career.

In the 600-meters, Emily Johnson raced to fifth place and crossed the line with a time of 1:42.64. Olivia Jeanette ended 10th place overall, recording a time of 1:51.13.

Giovanna Domene competed in the 1,000-meter run and claimed fifth place overall, recording a time of 3:11.58.

The women's 4x400-meter squad wrapped up the day of competition by winning the 1,600-meter relay. The foursome of Emily Johnson, Mikayla Ellis, Olivia Jeanette and Eden Siples combined for a time of 4:15.23.

The TU women will be back in action next Saturday, January 29 on their home track for the Trojan Invite.