BISMARCK, ND – The University of Mary women's track and field team had an excellent showing at home at the Al Bortke Open, topping the team leaderboard and breaking a school record in the process.
The record came in the 4x100m relay, where
Gabriella Apelian,
Tionce Walrond,
Tayen Werner, and
Laila Cleare placed 1st with a 45.65. That is currently 13
th in the nation and the top time in the NSIC. The previous record had stood since 2012 and was held by Kristyn Nelson, Nicketa Coombs, Rikki Schmidt, and Kathryn Stewart at 45.84.
Laila Cleare won the 100m dash with a time of 11.70. She is currently the top sprinter in the NSIC and the only one in the conference with an NCAA provisional qualifying time.
Kendall Berg earned her third career individual victory with the top time in the 200m dash. Her previous two wins came at last year's Al Bortke Open. Behind her were teammates
Micah Bernard (25.71) and
Mya Nishimura (26.34) to round out the top 3.
Freshmen swept the top 3 in the 400m dash.
Tayen Werner topped the leaderboard at 54.65 ahead of
Kelescia Downes (55.49) and
Gabriella Apelian (55.57). Werner is now 9
th in the nation in the event. Downes (27
th) and Apelian (29
th) also achieved NCAA qualifying times.
Makayla Allmaras earned her first career victory in the 100m hurdles with a PR of 14.52. Multi-discipline athlete
Anna Rader placed 2
nd at 14.82.
Morgan Hertz continued her dominance in the 400m hurdles with a winning time of 1:00.08.
Bernadette Belzer (1:03.04) and
Aspen Eslinger (1:04.49) followed her in 2
nd and 3
rd. Hertz is currently 5
th in the nation in the event.
The 4x400m relay team of Apelian, Werner, Walrond, and
Sakena Massiah took home the win in their event with a time of 3:54.34.
Full results
can be found here with the final team standings below:
University of Mary: 208
Dickinson State University: 176
MSU-Moorhead: 64
University of Jamestown: 60
Minot State University: 60
Bismarck State College: 41
Valley City State University: 31
Dawson Community College: 6
Up next for the Marauders will be a trip to Fargo for the NDSU Spring Invite. It will be a two-day meet from Friday to Saturday, Apr. 11 and 12.
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