BISMARCK, ND – Picking right up in 2023 where they left off in 2022, the University of Mary women's track & field team opened the New Year in impressive fashion. Led by a pair of
Arianna Passeri wins, the Marauders captured seven event titles on their home track at the Mike Thorson Open.
In her first and only other meet of the season, Passeri won both the long jump and the 60 meter dash at the Marauders Open on December 10. One month later and once again running at home, Passeri matched her earlier effort by winning the same two events.
In her first event of the day, the senior from Rosemount, MN, cleared 5.92 meters in the long jump on her first effort of the day, the Marauders lone NCAA qualifying mark of the day. One of the best jumps in the nation this season, it was just shy of her opening week marking of 5.93 meters that ranks her 8
th in the country. In an impressively consistent performance, all six of her jumps exceeded the NCAA qualifying standard.
Passeri additionally had a consistently impressive day on the track. In both the 60 meter dash preliminaries and finals, she was clocked in 7.79 seconds to win the event.
Morgan Hertz also had a big day for the Marauders. She claimed the 200 meter title with a time of 26.0 seconds flat to beat out teammate
Laura Inama (26.80). Hertz was second in the 60 after posting a time of 7.97 seconds. The junior's time of 7.91 seconds in the preliminaries was a college best.
In one of the closest races of the day,
Rachael Neu finished the 1000 meter run in 3:17.00 to edge teammate
Ava Grimm by .07 seconds (3:17.07).
Conversely All-American
Alyssa Becker had one of the most dominant efforts of the day in the mile. With a time of 5:11.07, Becker ran away from the competition, finishing 14 seconds before any other runner.
Antonia Genet claimed the high jump crown. Clearing the bar at 1.60 meters, she won the title after needing just one attempt at the winning height.
Taylor Weidner joined Hertz in claiming one event title and one runner-up finish. Weidner opened the triple jump with a winning effort of 10.93 meters. She placed second in the long jump with a top mark of 5.33 meters. Additionally Weidner added a 4
th place finish in the 60 meter dash (8.06 seconds).
Overall the Marauders ran away with the team title, compiling 222 points. Dickinson State was second with 150, followed by MSU Moorhead (65), Minot State (41), Valley City State (34) and Bismarck State (18).
The Marauders next compete at the South Dakota State University Jim Emmerich Invitational in Brookings, SD, on Saturday, January 21.
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