BILLINGS, MT – The University of Mary women's track and field team earned its first win of the outdoor season at the Yellowjacket Open in Montana. Highlighting the day were five individual victories including a new school record from Tionce Walrond.

Walrond won the 200m dash with a time of 23.31, breaking Sakena Massiah's school record of 23.55. Massiah placed second behind Walrond with a 23.37, and Laila Cleare followed with a 23.55 to round out the top three. All three had NCAA qualifying times

Cleare, who went to the NCAA Outdoor Championships in the 100m dash last year, was great in her first 100m race of the season. The junior set a new personal best with an NCAA qualifying time of 11.64 to win the event. Walrond was second with an 11.96. Kendall Berg placed third with a 12.34.

Massiah won the 400m dash with an NCAA qualifying time of 54.45. Tayen Werner followed with a qualifying mark of 55.53. Kelescia Downes was third at 56.49.

Morgan Hertz dominated the 400m hurdles with an NCAA qualifying time of 59.83, which was nearly five seconds better than the next closest time. That belonged to sophomore Bernadette Belzer at 1:04.06. Aspen Eslinger placed third at 1:04.87.

Three UMary 4x400m relay teams topped the leaderboard. The victorious squad consisted of Tayen Werner, Gabriella Apelian, Bernadette Belzer, and Sakena Massiah with a time of 3:52.49.

The full results from the Yellowjacket Open can be found here with the final team standings below:
University of Mary: 183
Dickinson State University: 132
University of Providence: 86
Montana Tech University: 34
Montana State University – Billings: 33
Rocky Mountain University: 18

Tomorrow, a group of distance runners will be in Pueblo, CO, for the Chuck Hearing Invitational. The Marauders return home next weekend for the Al Bortke Open on Apr. 5.

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