MARQUETTE, Mich. – The Northern Michigan track & field team will be on the West Coast this weekend, taking part in five meets across the Greater Los Angeles area from Thursday, April 16th, through Saturday, April 18th.
The Wildcats will get the chance to compete against some of the best talent from across the country.
On Thursday, NMU will compete in four meets.
Madi Szymanski and
Sophia Potter will compete in the 10k at the Bryan Clay Invitational in Azusa. Travelling to La Verne will be
Dani Van Lente as she competes in the 3,000m steeplechase at the Leopard Invitational. Additionally, at the Pacific Coast Invitational,
Teiolla Harvey will compete in the javelin,
Baux Truckey will run the 400m, and
Alayna Vandegriff will compete in the triple jump. Rounding out the field for NMU on Thursday will be
Danielle Lund, as she will travel to the Cal State Twilight Invitational in Los Angeles to compete in the discus and shot put.
On Friday, the 'Cats will continue their participation in both the Bryan Clay and Leopard Invitationals.
Szymanski, Potter, and Van Lente will all run the 5k at the Bryan Clay. They will be joined on Friday in Azusa by Vandegriff, who will be competing in the triple jump. At the Leopard Invitational,
Ella DeBruyn and
Ashley Choponis will run in the 1500m.
On Saturday, the team will wrap up competition as they compete in both the Bryan Clay and the Beach Invitational in Long Beach. At the Bryan Clay, Harvey will compete in the javelin throw, and Lund will compete in the shot put and discus. Truckey will run the 200m while
Lamar Gordon, DeBruyn, and Choponis will all run the 1500m. At the Beach Invite,
Beverly Harper will run the 800m.
Visit
NMU Wildcats Coverage for live results and watch links for all five meets.
Last Time Out
NMU had an impressive showing at Saturday's UW-Oshkosh Invite, securing nine wins and 25 top-five finishes in total.
Northern went 1-2 in the 3000m steeplechase.
Anya VanSweden crossed first at 11:27.50, followed by
Celia Wallace at 11:53.41.
In the 800m,
Beverly Harper earned yet another victory with a time of 2:16.18.
Baux Truckey dominated the 200m, finishing at 25.05, more than a second ahead of second place.
Madalyn Agren bested the rest of the field by nearly 30 seconds in the 5000m, crossing the finish line at 18:59.49.
Freshman
Maya Woods finished the 400m hurdles at 1:05.24 for first place. In the 100m hurdles, Lily Phillips was second with a time of 14.70.
Danielle Lund continued her dominant season with a win in the shot put, throwing 12.72m, and the hammer, throwing 53.65m. Lund then placed second in the discus at 43.52m.
Eclipsing 3.53m,
Alyssa Tumminaro earned a victory in the pole vault.
Eva Zonca totaled 4,090 points to win the heptathlon. She finished in first place in the 100m hurdles (15.33) and the high jump (1.51m). Right behind her was Nowakowski in second with 3,913 points. She earned a win in the javelin (33.73m).
Last Season at the California Invites
NMU opened competition at the California Invite with 11 athletes spread across four meets, totaling five personal records on day one.
Crystal Walker competed in the 100m hurdles and long jump, while notable distance performances came from
Dani Van Lente and
Emma Sweeney in the 3000m steeplechase, both setting PRs.
Skylar Grubb led the way in the 10,000m with a 30-second PR improvement to place second, and
Beverly Harper and
Lamar Gordon each posted PRs in the 800m.
Alayna Vandegriff added a sixth-place finish in the triple jump.
Over the next two days, the Wildcats added three more PRs and a victory, bringing the weekend total to eight. Vandegriff won the triple jump at the Leopard Invite, while Grubb, Van Lente, and others recorded strong 5K performances, including multiple PRs. Gordon also shaved nearly 10 seconds off her 1500m PR. Northern closed the weekend at the Beach Invite, highlighted by two seniors achieving NCAA provisional marks.
