The Hoosiers broke both personal and IU records this weekend at the Penn Relays.
Early on, the Hoosiers’ distance medley relay team came out strong. The group of athletes participating in this event included freshman Natalie Price, juniors Haley Harris and Katherine Receveur and senior Kendell Wiles. The team finished in fifth place overall with a time of 11:13.98, coming away with the second-fastest time in school history.
The best relay performance this weekend came in the 4x800-meter race, which consisted of sophomore Joely Pinkston, junior Kelsey Harris, senior Brenna Calder and Wiles. Pinkston finished in 2:07.5, Harris finished in 2:05.14, followed by Calder in 2:06.80 and Wiles, who finished in 2.06.37. Harris and Pinkston both finished the race with personal bests for their 800-meter races.
Overall, the team finished in second place with a time of 8:25.79, breaking the school record for this event.
The Hoosiers also excelled at the 4x1,500-meter race, which was run by Calder, the Harris twins and Receveur. The team finished the event in second place overall, with a time of 17:41.32. This is the second-fastest time in this event in IU’s history.
As for individual successes, junior Maggie Allen took home the gold medal for the 3,000-meter race. She finished with a time 9:16.20, which is now her outdoor personal best. This is the first time a Hoosier has won the 3,000 at the Penn Relays.
Moreover, freshman Lexa Barrott earned 15th place in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a personal best time of 10:30.72. She also finished third in her heat.
As for shorter distances, sophomore Megan Grabowski’s time in the 100-meter dash prelims qualified her for the finals. She placed ninth in both races, with a preliminary time of 12.05 seconds and a final time of 11.97 seconds.
Lastly, junior Jeyland Valentin earned 19th overall in the 400-meter hurdles, coming in fourth in her heat with a time of 1:01.73.
In the field, sophomore jumper Leah Moran acted as a dual threat for the Hoosiers. She advanced to the finals in the long jump, where she earned second place for a final attempt of 6.04 meters.
In the triple jump, Moran also finished second with a distance of 12.46 meters, just three hundredths of a meter behind first place athlete, Maryam Hassan.
Although Moran excelled, fellow junior jumper Aaliyah Armstead struggled this week. She earned just ninth place in the long jump with a distance of 5.48 meters. To put that in perspective, the Evansville, Indiana-native currently holds a personal best distance of 6.21 meters.
The throwers also had a solid week. Junior Nycia Ford performed well in the hammer throw, earning third place with a distance of 60.57 meters.
Sophomore Khayla Dawson competed in the shot put, earning second place with a distance of 16.88 meters.
Next up, IU will race at home for the first time since Feb. 9 for the Billy Hayes Invitational on May 4.
