The Elizabethtown College women’s track and field team traveled to Lewisburg, Pa. to compete in the Bison Open & Multi hosted by Bucknell University on Friday, Jan. 30 and Saturday, Jan. 31. First-year Brittianni Phillips got the Jays moving on Friday as she broke the school record in the shot put. Senior Amelia Tearnan followed that up with her own school record-breaking performance on Saturday, Jan. 31.
Phillips’ throw of 11.62m (38’1-1/2″) was over one foot farther than her previous record of 11.28m (37’0-1/4″). Sophomore Amanda Porter also threw farther than 11.28m, creating a new personal best of 11.49m (37’8-1/2″) and moved from third to second on Etown’s all-time list in this event. “Coming in as a freshman is hard and intimidating, but I have an awesome team surrounding me, so anything is possible,” Phillips said. Phillips and Porter have two of the top three best throws in the shot put in the Landmark Conference.
The Jays had three of the top 13 finishers in the mile run, two of these runners were graduate student Eileen Cody and Tearnan. Cody was sixth overall in 5:11.33, moving her from fifth to fourth on the program’s top ten list. Tearnan finished in 5:11.51 for seventh overall and jumped from eighth to fifth in the rankings. With their combined times, Cody and Tearnan are now moved into the top 40 in Division III for this event.
In addition, sophomores Casey Quinto and Brianna Earnshaw improved their times in the mile. Quinto’s time of 5:23.19 was a new personal record. Quinto, Earnshaw, Cody and Tearnan gave Etown four of the top five mile times in the Landmark.
A year after setting the school record in the 500-meter run, sophomore Alexis Groce was ready to beat her time. However, she was within a second and a half of doing so and finished second overall in 1:20.56. “I am pretty satisfied with this result,” Groce said. “I feel very positively about this season!”
First-year Kelsey Brady was eighth in the 500-meter run and joined the top ten list with the fifth-best time in the program’s history with a time of 1:22.46. First-year Lia Chak also added her name to the all-time list, and was ranked ninth with a time of 1:27.40.
The Blue Jays ended on a positive note as the 4×400-meter relay team of Tearnan, Brady, sophomore Kelsey Detweiler and Groce ran the sixth-fastest time in school history at 4:11.87. They were ninth overall and have the top relay time in the Landmark Conference to date.
The women’s track and field team will compete at the Seamus McElligott Invitational at Haverford College on Saturday, Feb. 7 at 11 a.m.
