BROOKINGS, SD – A breakout performance by
Sakena Massiah and a 1-2 finish by
Ava Grimm and
Grace Acheson in the 600 meter run lifted the University of Mary women's track & field team to a 5
th place finish at the South Dakota State University Indoor Classic.
The four schools that finished ahead of UMary in the team standings were NCAA Division I programs.
"This meet is always a highlight of our regular season as our athletes get the opportunity to post some impressive marks going into conference and gain a lot of confidence as a team," said Marauders head track & field coach
Cale Korbelik. "I think we found out today what we can do when we go all out. The team is setting themselves up for success in two weeks. It was a great feeling to finish strong with two national marks in the mile relays and the men breaking a 19 year old school record."
Massiah, in her first season with the Marauders, ran the 200 meter dash in 24.85 seconds. The sophomore from Bridgetown, Barbados, cracked the NCAA qualifying time in her best race of her season. Massiah ranks 42
nd nationally and 9
th among Northern Sun competition.
As a follow-up, Massiah led the Marauders 4x400 meter squad to their best mark of the season. Racing with
Morgan Hertz,
Ava Grimm and
Danalee Brock, the Marauders quartet exploded to an NCAA qualifying time of 3:50.33 to place third overall. It is the 26
th best time in the nation and third in the NSIC.
Grimm and Acheson had an exceptional day in the 600. Grimm finished in a time of 1:34.67 to gain the Marauders their lone event win of the day. Acheson was close behind, placing second with a personal best time of 1:36.49.
Kiran Green had a pair of impressive performances for the Marauders. The senior placed second in the 1000 meter run with a clocking of 2:17.75. She also finished 9
th in the 800 with a college best time of 2:17.75.
Also finishing strong in the 1000 was
Marisa Shiland, placing 5
th with a clocking of 3:06.53.
A'Lena Chaney scored in a pair of events for the Marauders. The junior posted a 4
th place finish in the long jump. She connected for a top mark of 5.52 meters on her first attempt of the day.
On the track, Chaney earned 8
th place in the 60 meter hurdles. After posting a time of 8.94 seconds in the preliminaries, she cleared the barriers in 9.04 seconds in the finals.
The Marauders had other top 12 performances at the SDSU Indoor Classic, at meet at which close to 1,400 athletes were anticipated.
UMary next competes at home in the Marauders TuneUp on February 18 with field events beginning at 11 am. It's the last opportunity for the Marauders to compete prior to the NSIC championships on February 23-25.
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