Multiple women athletes break personal records at Early Bird event
On Saturday, USD hosted the Early Bird track and field event, where the women’s team finished in the top 10 in all but two of their events.
Sophomore Erin Kinney placed first in the Women’s 100 Meter Dash with a time of 11.75. This time gave Kinney her personal outdoor best as well as making her seventh in USD program history. After her performance at the Early Bird, Kinney currently leads the Summit League in the Women’s 100 Meter Dash. Kinney’s freshman teammate Averi Schmeichel rounded out the top 10 with a tenth-place finish with a time of 12.48.
In the Women’s 200 Meter Dash, three Coyotes had times within the top 10. Kinney came in second (24.67), freshman Anna Robinson came in fourth (25.08) and sophomore Hannah Young came in eighth (25.40).
Freshman Caelyn Valandra-Prue placed fifth in the Women’s 400 Meter Dash with a time of 57.54.
The Women’s 800 Meter Run finished with four Coyotes placing in the top 10. Senior Alli Wroblewski led the Coyotes with a third-place finish (2:17.50), followed by sophomore Haley Arens in fourth (2:17.86). Sophomore Madison Jochum came in seventh (2:19.36) and sophomore Ella Byers rounded out the event finishing ninth (2:19.69).
Byers moved up in the rankings to second in the Women’s 1500 Meter Run with a time of 4:37.01. Sophomore Abrielle Jirele and Arens also placed in this event, Jirele in fourth (4:39.05) and Arens in ninth (4:46.85).
In the Women’s 5000 Meter Run, junior Abby Ripperda came in third with a time of 17:34.49. She was joined by sophomore teammates Haley Miller and Lily Provenzano in the top 10. Miller came in eighth with a time of 18:14.13 and Provenzano came in tenth with a time of 18:36.03.
Schmeichel was the sole Coyote in the top 10 for the Women’s 100 Meter Hurdles. She finished in fourth with a time of 14.22.
The Coyotes secured a podium sweep in the Women’s 400 Meter Hurdles. Freshman Moe Bridgen led the Coyotes in first place with a time of 1:00.48, a league-leading time for this event. Bridgen was followed by sophomore Jacy Pulse in second (1:00.56) and senior Holly Gerberding in third (1:00.87).
Sophomore Helen Gould took the first-place spot in the Women’s 3000 Meter Steeplechase with a time of 10:55.71. Sophomore Renee Thompson was the only other Coyote who placed in the top 10, with a sixth-place finish with a time of 11:35.01.
In the Women’s High Jump, two Coyotes placed in the top 10. Freshman Danii Anglin placed second with a height of 1.78m and sophomore Carly Haring placed third with a height of 1.75m.
Freshman Marleen Mülla placed first in the Women’s Pole Vault with a height of 4.41m. This height was Mülla’s personal best and ranked her sixth in the NCAA this season as well as fourth in all-time school history. Sophomore Jaidyn Garrett followed Mülla in second place with 4.06m. Sophomore Cassidy Mooneyhan came in third (3.76m) and junior Josephina Wright came in tenth (3.46m).
In the Women’s Long Jump, the Coyotes rounded out the last four spots of the top 10. Gerberding finished in seventh with 5.60m, Schmeichel was in eighth with 5.51m, redshirt-freshman Lauren Meyer came in ninth with 5.45m and freshman Renee Brummels finished tenth with 5.37m.
Brummels also placed in the Women’s Triple Jump. She came in fourth with 11.47m, followed by Meyer in sixth with 11.33m.
Sophomore Meredith Clark placed second in the Women’s Shot Put with 14.39m. Clark was accompanied by junior teammate Josephine Starner who came in fifth with 13.65m.
In the Women’s Discus Throw, Clark placed second again with 48.57m. Sophomore Lydia Knapp came in fifth with 45.73m.
Knapp also placed first in the Women’s Hammer Throw with 60.63m. This distance was a personal best for Knapp and put her as second in program history for this event. In addition to Knapp, Clark came in eighth with 52.83m and freshman Kenzie Campbell came in ninth with 51.56m.
The track and field team will be traveling to Wichita, Kansas for the K.T. Woodman Classic April 6-9.
