Wheaton women claim second in Wheaton Outdoor Invite

April 12 2018
Last Saturday, April 7, Wheaton’s Women’s Track and Field team showed strong performances at their home meet. With four athletes who took first place in various events, the women earned second place in a field of 10 teams. They acquired 143 points to come in close behind Wisconsin-Stevens Point who won the meet with 161.5 points. Trailing the Thunder was Hope College who finished third with 127.5 points.
Wheaton especially excelled in the sprints last Saturday. Sophomore Marissa Heath finished first in the 400 hurdles with a time of 1:03.62. In the open 400 senior Maggie Dansdill tied for first with a time of 58.97. She was followed closely by sophomore Favor Ezewuzie who took fourth in 1:01.11 and junior Natasha Brown who came in eighth with a time of 1:01.76. Wheaton athletes took first through fourth place in the 100 meter hurdles. Ezewuzie won the event with a time of 15.06 seconds. In second, Abby Grace McGee raced in a time of 15.41 and Tess Sutton finished in third with a time of 15.53. Nicole Kitchen rounded out the top four with a time of 15.62.
Wheaton also had a strong showing in the long distance events. In the 1500, freshman Hannah Roeske took first place in 4:44.57. Junior Erika Johnson finished second in the same event with a time of 4:47.16, and Anna Joy Setran took seventh in 4:59.59. Ellie Hawthorne took second in the 5000 meter race with a time of 17:59.22. In the 800, Johnson placed fourth in 2:21.64 and senior Nicole Kitchen took eighth place in 2:26.91.
In the field events, Wheaton athletes continued to succeed. Ezewuzie won the long jump with a leap of 5.24 m followed by Kitchen who placed seventh with a mark of 5.12 m. Freshman Courtney Linscott competed in the triple jump and finished eighth with a leap of 8.85 m. In the high jump, junior Katie Lindquist reached a mark of 1.57 m, which got her second place. Freshman Heidi Considine finished third in the discus with an effort of 30.51 m, freshman Grace O’Connell finished fourth with a throw of 29.32 m and sophomore Kennedi Toney took sixth with her toss of 22.43 m. Toney also competed in the shot put, recording a toss of 8.73 m to place fifth, followed by senior Makenna Sanders who took sixth with a throw of 8.47 m and O’Connell in eighth with a toss of 7.95 m.
The Thunder will continue their outdoor season next week, with a two-day meet starting Friday, April 13 at 12 p.m. They will be competing in Lisle, Ill. at the Benedictine University Relays.