OSHKOSH, Wis. – The Northern Michigan track and field team opened their indoor season with two victories and 17 top-five finishes at the UW-Oshkosh Early Bird Invite.
Northern's victories came from
Kaitlin Smith in the pole vault and from
Teiolla Harvey in the weight throw. Northern also added four second-place finishes, six third-place, two fourth-place, and three fifth-place finishes.
Overall, the Wildcats showed early-season depth across both track and field events, with standout performances in sprints, hurdles, and throws.
On the Track
The first event on Saturday was the 3000m race, where
Anya VanSweden claimed a time of 10:58.38 for second place.
Freshman Lily Phillips earned the silver in the 60m hurdles with a time of 8.95.
Crystal Walker was fourth at 9.19.
With a time of 7.87,
Baux Truckey finished in third place in the 60m dash.
The final event of the meet was the 4x400m relay. The team of Truckey, Phillips,
Taylor Rogers, and
Beverly Harper crossed the finish line at 4:06.32 for second place. The group of
Brooke Lemos,
Paige Anderson,
Ella DeBruyn, and
Lola Korpi finished in 4:31.32 for fifth.
In the Field
Kaitlin Smith started her season with a victory in the pole vault, reaching a height of 3.36m.
Alyssa Tumminaro eclipsed 3.06m for third place.
Teiolla Harvey was victorious in the weight throw with a distance of 15.81m, hitting that distance on her fourth throw.
Danielle Lund placed fourth with a throw of 15.18m.
In the shot put, Harvey threw a distance of 12.29m for second place. Right behind her,
Alizabeth Little placed third with a mark of 12.20m. Lund also entered the top-5 with a distance of 11.56m.
With a jump of 5.31m,
Crystal Walker finished in third in the long jump. Over in the triple jump,
Alayna Vandegriff also earned the bronze with a distance of 11.07m.
Pentathlon
Three 'Cats competed in the pentathlon on Friday. In a field of 11 competitors,
Natasha Nowakowski placed third with 3,076 points. She had top finishes in the high jump (1.54m) and the shot put (9.86m), placing third in each.
Eva Zonca finished in fifth with 2,942 points. She saw her top finish come in the 60m hurdles, where she placed fourth in a time of 9.51. Behind Zonca was
Elizabeth Simpson in sixth, totaling 2,875 points. Simpson finished the 800m race in a time of 2:34.80 for fourth place, her best finish among the five events.
Up Next
The Wildcats will be back in action after the calendar flips over to 2026 when they head to the Karl Schlender Invite hosted by UW-Whitewater on Saturday, January 24.
