Marion, IN – Alma College Track and Field traveled down to Indiana on Saturday to take part in the Polar Bear Invitational. This was Alma's first outdoor meet of the season.
On the men's side, Braxton Lamey kicked things off with a 4th place finish in the steeple chase, clocking a 10:20.31. He was followed by the 4x100 team of Devin Rice, Chandler Holloway, Anthony Spears, and Devon Frenchko in 3rd with a 45.14. Later on, Landon Jennings picked up a win for Alma, when his 52.43 was the fastest time in the field for the 400 meters. Rice and Holloway took 3rd and 4t in the 100 meters, with Rice clocking a 11.55, and Holloway a 11.59. Rice had himself a day, striking again in the 200 meters to run 24.47 and take 3rd. Finally, the 4x400 meter relay team of McNeel, Jennings, Spears, and Sims took home the win with a time of 3:35.24.
Moving to the field events, Joseph Gonzales cleared 1.80 meters to take home 5th place in the high jump. Gonzales placed again when he took 8th in the long jump after jumping a 5.95. Right behind him in 9th was Ed Markarian with a 5.74. Markarian followed up the long jump with a triple jump of 12.39 meters to take 4th.
On the women's side, the first finishers were the 4x100 meter relay. The team of Ericka Bigham, Andrea Taghon, Cornelia Gotaas, and Natalie Snyder came home in 3rd with a 52.03. Bigham and Victoria Gotaas registered a pair of top 10 finishes in the 400 meters. Bigham (1:04.43) came in 7th, with Gotaas (1:04.74) in 8th. The Scots placed 4 in the top 10 of the 110m hurdles. Taghon picked up 3rd (17.11), with Snyder 5th(18.07), Jenna Belmas (18.43), and Kaitelyn Walker 9th (20.25). Cornelia Gotaas ran a 2:30.75 to take 5th in the 800, kicking off the distance events. Continuing the distance top 10s was Caleigh Winters, who ran a 20:32.23 in the 5000 meters.
In the field events, Helena Snyder came level for 3rd place in the high jump with a clearance of 1.50 meters. She was joined by Reagan Keyser who cleared 1.40 meters to pick up 9th. In the pole vault, Mya Scott cleared 2.90 meters to come in 4th place, and Lauren McCarthy's 2.60 clearance was good for 8th.
Story Credit: Nick Nemeth, Sports Information Director
