The Wheaton Women’s Track and Field team continued their successful season at the Benedictine University Eagle Relays on Friday, April 13. The meet was originally scheduled for both Friday and Saturday but the second day of the meet was canceled due to the cold, rainy weather which swept across the Midwest on Saturday.
Junior Aryn Embretson showed an impressive performance, beating out 44 competitors to take first in the 3,000 meter run with a time of 10:38.69. Junior Megan Bailey and sophomore Hannah Oechsle followed closely behind, placing fifth and sixth with times of 10:57.40 and 11:00.09, respectively.
In the 3,000 meter steeplechase freshman Hannah Roeske finished first out of 26 participants with a time of 11:01.81, just ahead of teammate senior Ellie Hawthorne who took second place with a time of 11:08.87. Junior Laura Barnes crossed the finish line at 11:43.27 to take seventh place. In the 1,500 meter run, junior Erika Johnson clocked a time of 4:52.60 to finish fifth.
Sophomore Favor Ezewuzie took fourth place in the 200 meter dash at 25.88 seconds and senior Maggie Dansdill followed close behind to take fifth in 25.89 seconds. Ezewuzie also competed in the 100 meter hurdles in which she was fourth with a time of 14.98 seconds followed by junior Abby Grace McGee who took fifth with a time of 15.44 seconds.
The women’s relays excelled on Friday. Wheaton’s two 1,600 meter sprint medley relay teams took the top two spots in the event. The foursome of Dansdill, junior Anna Ifft, junior Natasha Brown and senior Nicole Kitchen took first in 4:21.22. The relay squad of McGee, freshman Tess Sutton, junior Rose Favino and freshman Ally Lyle followed close behind and finished second with a time of 4:28.42.
McGee, Sutton, Favino and junior Cassidy Foxhoven grouped together in the 4×200 meter relay to take second place in the event with a time of 1:51.28. The distance medley relay team of freshman Kiersten Oslund, sophomore Marissa Heath, junior Sophia Becker and freshman Becca Smith also saw a second-place finish in their event with a time of 14:00.60.
The Wheaton Track and Field Women will next compete at home in the Don Church Twilight Invitational. The meet will take place at McCully Stadium on April 21 with field events starting at 2 p.m. and running events beginning at 3:30 p.m.