A Pair of Victories Highlight First Day of CL Championships

Crossroads League Championships Central

MARION, Ind. – Taylor began competition in the Crossroads League Championships on Thursday, highlighted by a pair of victories, which helped them finish the day in third.

Sam Patterson began the day for the Trojans and carded the first victory of the event in the 10,000-meters, with a time of 36:53.44, to hit the NAIA B Standard.

Kiana Siefert had another brilliant start to the Crossroads League Championships, leaping her way to a win in the long jump with a distance of 5.70 meters cleared. The junior's day was not done as Siefert ran the fastest time in qualifying for the 100-meter hurdles at 14.47 seconds.

Claire Bailey and Adeline Draper joined Siefert in qualifying for the finals in the 100-meter hurdles to give Taylor a great chance to rack up points in the event on Friday.

A trio of pole vaulters cleared 10 feet, with Betsy Underwood marking a height of 10 feet six inches for a personal best to finish fourth. Mai Zimmerman and Janna Teusch cleared 10 feet, which marked season-bests for the pair of sophomores.

The 4x800-meter relay team of Noel VanderWall, Emersyn Funk, Kaitlin Burden, and Abby Mays improved their time to 9:18.23, which was just shy of hitting the NAIA A Standard in a third-place finish.

Karley Kabel had a terrific day, throwing career-bests in the discus and shot put. The sophomore began her career day with a toss of 127 feet 10 inches, over ten feet farther than her previous best. Then she tossed a distance of 36 feet 7.75 inches in the shot put to complete her day.

Meg Stevens finished eighth in the high jump with a season-best height of five feet 1.5 inches. Meanwhile, Nicole Domene qualified for the 100-meter dash finals with a time of 12.30 seconds in the preliminaries.

The Trojans continue competition in the Crossroads League Championships on Friday, May 2, with the first event beginning at 11:30 am.