OLIVET, Mich. – The Alma College track and field team headed outside for the first time this season, opening their outdoor schedule at the Colet Triangular, hosted by The University of Olivet on Friday, March 28th. The Scots saw positive results for the first meet of the season and look to continue to improve throughout the spring.
For the women, starting with the one-mile run, Alma took the top three spots as Erica Slocum came in first, followed by Sophia Dech and Sopia Sanford, all under the time of 5:49.15, as Slocum finished with a 5:42.95 and Dech with a 5:42.96. Dech collected a first-place finish in the 5000-meter run, with a time of 19:01.21, with both races being personal bests. Chloe Colton finished fifth in the 5000-meter run as well, with a time of 19:42.41, which was a personal best. In the 100-meter hurdles, MaryAlice Lynch raced for the first time in her collegiate career, finishing second with a time of 16.15. Helena Snyder finished third at 16.62, followed by Kaitlen Walker finishing fourth at 17.58 and Jenna Belmas in fifth with a time of 17.76. Walker and Belmas both raced the 400-meter hurdles as well, finishing second a third, respectively, with times of 1:13.74 and 1:15.86. Dakota Booher nabbed a top five finish in the 100-meter run, with a time of 13.27 for her first outdoor season. Olivia Giza finished third in the 200-meter race with a time of 27.50. Booher finished fourth in the 200 with a time of 28.31 as well. Lauren Brawt was crowned the champion in the 400 meters with a time of 59.90, a personal best for her. Giza finished right behind her teammate in second with a time of 1;01.54. In the half0mile, Jordan Fox came away on top with a time of 2:28.03. The Scots finished third through fifth as well with Sanford Madelyn Strauss and Kaitriss DeGroft rounding out the top five. The Scots 4x400 team also came away the fastest with a time of 4:11.15 ran by Brawt, Sanford, Fox and Snyder.
In the women's field events, Lauren McCarthy finished pole vault on top of the leader board, clearing a mark of 3.05 meters, for a personal best. Alisha Isenberg finished third with a mark of 2.30 meters. Brawt collected a third-place finish in the long jump, jumping 4.86 meters. Julia Haggart threw the shot put 10.79 meters, a personal best, to place third in the event overall. Haggart also finished third in the discus as well, throwing for 31.86 meters for another personal best. Helena Snyder rounded out the Scots with a win in the high jump, clearing 1.60 meters, taking the honors. Reagan Keyser finished fifth in the same event, clearing 1.41 meters.
The Alma men side of action saw numerous top five finishes as well. Benjamin Daniels collected a third-place finish in the 100-meter run with a time of 11.29, another personal best. Aiden Aldrich finished fourth in the 200 meters with a time of 22.98 for his first time outdoors. Aldrich and Phillip Banner went 'second-third' in the 400 meters with times of 50.46 and 52.12, a personal best for Banner. Will Maginity came away first in the 800 meters with a time of 2:05.79 to collect the Scots men's first top-spot. Dickieson added another good finish in the mile run with a fifth-place finish at 5:07.22. Noah Murphy finished runner-up in the 5000-meter race with a time of 16.46.67. Trace Laskey and Brady Crake both finished fourth and fifth, respectively in the 110 hurdles, clocking in at 17.05 and 18.37. Laskey also grabbed a third-place finish in the 400 hurdles, running a 1:00.86. Freshman Joshua Oziwele finished fourth in his first collegiate event in the high jump, clearing a mark of 1.70 meters. Leland Edelyn came away on top in the pole vault, clearing 3.65 meters for the crown. Ed Markarian finished second for the Scots in the long jump and triple jump with marks of 6.27 meters and 12.92 meters, which was a personal best. Markarian also added another second-place finish in the javelin throw with a distance of 41.95 meters, another personal best. Ryan McGuire finished out the Scots finishes with a third-place throw in the hammer with a mark of 45.46, a personal best for the sophomore.
Alma will now build off their finishes and look towards their next meet on Saturday, April 5th as they will head to Oakland University for the Golden Grizzlies Invitational. The meet is set to start at 11:00 AM in Rochester, Michigan.
