LEXINGTON, Va. – The Radford women's track & field team followed up a stellar opener in their second meet of 2022 at VMI once again for the Winter Relays. Nine Highlanders set personal records on the weekend while seven of those PRs included changes to the school record book.
Maddie Wright and
Kelsey Arnold got the Highlanders started on Friday with superb showings in the pentathlon. Wright set a new personal best with 3,110 points, improving her standing in the school record book from eighth to fifth. Wright also set a new indoor best in the long jump along the way with a mark of 5.19m (17-0.5).
Arnold completed her first collegiate pentathlon Friday. Her 2,808 points in the competition were good for ninth in school history. Arnold also set a personal record in the long jump, not only besting her own mark but moving herself into 10th in Radford history with a mark of 5.19m (17-4.25).
Saturday, the Highlanders were highlighted by another strong outing by the distance group. To start off the day,
Hannah Moran and
MacKenzie Gardner both moved into the top 10 in school history in the mile with times of 4:56.10 and 5:13.02, good for second and ninth in the record book, respectively. Gardner ranked eighth in the event prior to being topped by
MegAnne Gilmore last weekend. Gardner moved back ahead fo Gilmore, albeit dropping ot ninth due to the victorious Moran.
Speaking of
MegAnne Gilmore, she once again inked her name in the record book, this time in the 3,000m. Gilmore's time of 10:29.70 is good for 10th in Radford history. In the same event, however, the star for the Highlanders was
Chloe Wellings who made a splash in her season debut, running 10:16.70, good for seventh in school history.
On Saturday,
Julia Burkley also saw improvement with a 200-meter personal best of 27.07 seconds to win her heat after competing in the 400 meters as well, Friday evening.
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"Another great weekend and step forward for our program," said Director of Track & Field
Shelli Sayers. "It is so fun to set PRs and season bests this time of year… We have a lot of new people putting their names in the record book – I am very proud of everyone representing Radford and our program right now."
UP NEXT
The Highlanders will travel to Liberty for the Liberty Open next Saturday, January 5.
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