Wildcats had eleven other top-three results
OSHKOSH, Wis. – The Northern Michigan track and field team thoroughly impressed at this weekend’s Titan Invitational, collecting eight first place finishes.
Skylar Grubb (1500m), Claire Waligorski (5000m), Crystal Walker (100m hurdles), Ahna Larson (400m hurdles), Sofi Diop (triple jump), Anya VanSweden (3000m steeplechase), and Wilme Els (javelin) all earned individual wins along with a top finish in the 4x100m relay.
The Green and Gold had 11 other top-3 finishes throughout the meet.
On the Track
The Wildcats dominated the 1500m by grabbing each of the top-5 spots. Skylar Grubb was 1st (4:55.25), followed by Ella DeBruyn (4:58.67), Emma Sweeney (4:59.69), Sophia Potter (5:01.90), and Paige Anderson (5:05.22).
Anya VanSweden cruised to a win in the 3000m steeplechase. Finishing at 11:36.94, VanSweden outran the rest of the competition by at least 40 seconds.
Claire Waligorkski picked up her first career win, besting the competition in the 5000m with a time of 18:48.02.
The group of Ellyse Wolfrath, Ciara Ostrenga, Ahna Larson, and Crystal Walker took home a 1st place finish in the 4×100 relay, finishing at 49.10.
Walker won the 100m hurdles with a time of 14.32 while Sofi Diop crossed in 3rd at 14.97. Larson collected an individual win in the 400m hurdles, crossing at 1:02.49. Elle McKinney took 4th in a time of 1:11.78.
Ostrenga placed 2nd in the 200m with a time of 25.47 while Beverly Harper was 3rd in the 800m with a time of 2:18.56.
In the Field
The ‘Cats went one and two in the triple jump. Sofi Diop earned the top spot with a jump of 11.73m while Alayna Vandegriff followed closely behind at 11.63m for 2nd.
Wilme Els collected another win in the javelin with a distance of 39.45m. Teiolla Harvey was 3rd by hitting a mark of 35.97m.
In the long jump, Walker leaped 5.55m for 2nd place followed by Diop’s 5.47m for 3rd.
Katilin Smith took 2nd in the pole vault by hitting a height of 3.50m. Vandegriff was 4th and Emily Czeiszperger at 5th, each reaching 3.35m.
Heptathlon
A pair of ‘Cats completed the seven-event heptathlon. Eva Zonca placed 3rd overall with 3,747 points. Her best finishes came in the 100m hurdles (15.56) where she placed 3rd and in the 200m (27.54) where she took fourth. She finished in the top-9 in all seven events in a field of 15 competitors. Elizabeth Simpson finished in 9th with 3,063 points. Her best finish was in the 100m hurdles (17.68) where she placed 7th.
Up Next
Northern will bring a group to the west coast next weekend, taking part in the Cal State Twilight Meet, the Beach Invite, and the Bryan Clay Invite. All three meets will take place in the Los Angeles metropolitan from April 17 through April 19.
