FARGO, ND – A tremendous weekend performance by the University of Mary men's and women's track & field teams featured the Marauders earning six NCAA provisional qualifying marks and four event titles at the North Dakota State University Bison Open on Friday and Saturday.
 
"This weekend was a great start to our biggest stretch of competitions leading up to conference and nationals," said Marauders head track & field coach Cale Korbelik. "We had six national qualifying marks and numerous season and lifetime bests. The team competed with grit throughout the 2-day meet and gained momentum with every event. As a team I'm proud of the way we took on the challenge of competing against some great competition. This is just a beginning for the Marauders."
 
Ava Grimm and Alyssa Becker both picked up wins for the UMary women's team and three others had top three finishes for the Marauders in a stellar team performance.
 
On opening night Grimm set the weekend tone for the Marauders. The senior from Elk River, MN, blazed her way to the 600 meter title as she churned up the track in a time of 1:37.16.
 
Right behind Grimm was Danalee Brock, claiming second in the 600 with a clocking of 1:37.73. Additionally Grace Acheson also scored team points for the Marauders with a 6^th place finish (1:39.51).
 
All-American Alyssa Becker picked up the other win of the weekend for UMary. Already an NCAA provisional qualifier in the 3000 meter run, Becker outpaced her competition with a time of 9:43.58 to win the evet by nearly five seconds. Her career-best time, Becker now ranks 12^th in NCAA Division II.
 
Arianna Passeri registered the Marauders other NCAA qualifying mark at the Bison Open. The senior from Rosemount, MN, hit a mark of 5.99 meters in the long jump to place second. It's her best effort of the season and pushed her up to 7^th on the national leader board. Her previous best mark was 5.93 meters in the opening meet of the season.
 
Additionally Passeri snared 3^rd place in the 60 meter dash, finishing in 7.67 seconds.
 
Antonia Genet also earned a second place finish with her effort in the high jump when she cleared 1.60 meters.
 
Several other Marauders also earned team points for UMary:

• Kiran Green (5:12.23) and Marisa Shiland (5:21.85) finished back-to-back in the mile run, taking 4^th and 5^th place
• Green also picked up 8^th place in the 1000 (3:00.43)
• A'Lena Chaney earned a slot in the 60 meter hurdles and placed 4^th (8.87 seconds)
• Chaney added a 6^th place fining to her day in the triple jump (10.82 meters)
• Sakena Massiah (25.61) and Morgan Hertz (26.13) finished 5-6 in the 200 meter run
• Brock (58.69) and Massiah (58.69) placed 5-6 in the 400 meter run and Hertz claimed 8^th (58.78)
• Andrijana Fundak (10:22.78) earned 8^th place in the 3000 meter run
• Taylor Weidner finished 5^th in the triple jump (11.08 meters) and also claimed 8^th in the long jump (5.44 meters)
• Nicole Kramchynsky was 10^th in the shot put (12.6 meters)
• Laura Inama placed 8^th in the pentathlon with 3,083 points

 
Overall the Marauders earned 95.5 team points to place 3^rd out of 13 teams.
 
The UMary men's and women's track & field teams next compete at the South Dakota State University Indoor Classic on February 10-11.
 
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