UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. – Returning to track that they competed on the week prior, the Alma College track and field team brought a handful of athletes to the Jet's Pizza Invitational, hosted by Saginaw Valley State University on Friday and Saturday, January 30-31st. Alma mainly competed in the combined events sending several athletes from both sides to test their skills against some higher competition.
Helena Snyder was one of two competitors on the women's side that competed in the pentathlon, setting a new school record in with 2.954 total point accumulated to finish in sixth place overall. Lauren Brawt also competed in the combined events for the first time, scoring 2,695 points, placing her third all-time in pentathlon points. Snyder's best finishes came in the 800-meter race and the high jump, where she placed second in both events. In the 800, finishing behind her teammate Brawt, Snyder ran a time of 2:27.18 to finish second and score 729 points. In the high jump, Snyder beat her school record she had set last week, raising the bar and clearing it at 1.65 meters, which is currently th 11th best mark in NCAA Division III, which led to scoring another 795 points. Snyder would finish 13th in 60-meter hurdles, 14th in shot put and 18th in the long jump to round out her events.
Brawt as mentioned above, had her best finish in the 800-meter run, followed by two ninth place finishes in the shot put and high jump competitions. Brawt cleared a height of 1.47 meters in the high jump while throwing for 9.03 meters in the shot put, followed by a long jump of 4.81 meters to finish tenth in that event as well. Brawt rounded out the pentathlon with a 21st place finish in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 11.96.
Brady Crake was the lone men's competitor from the Scots to take part in the heptathlon, in his first time competing in the event. Crake finished with 3,542 points, good for 13th place overall. Crakes best finish came in the shot put with a throw of 10.33 meters, finishing in seventh place for the event. Crake then added an 11th place finish in the high jump, two 12th place finishes in the 60-meter hurdles and pole vault, a 13th place finishing the 1000 meter run and two 14th place finishes in the long jump and 60-meter race. Crake's balanced finishes helped score him towards the middle of the pack in an event where over 50% of the competitors where Division I or Division II athletes.
Alma will now be back in action in Mount Pleasant, Michigan for the Chippewa Invitational hosted by Central Michigan University on Saturday, February 7th. The meet is scheduled to begin at 12:00 PM inside the Jack Skoog Track.
