Posted: Apr 23, 2023
GEORGETOWN, Texas - The Trinity University women earned their eighth consecutive SCAC Track & Field championship, cruising to a 59-point victory over second-place Texas Lutheran University on Sunday afternoon at the Southwestern University Track and Field facility. Official Website | Complete Results | Day Two Photos
The title is the 16th overall women's track and field championship for the Trinity women, the most of any program in league history.
Trinity was led by senior Kierra Francois, who earned SCAC Women's Track & Field Athlete of the Meet after taking titles in the hammer and the javelin on Day One and followed with a second place finish in the shot put and a third in the discus.
FINAL STANDINGS
1. Trinity - 268
2. Colorado College - 209
3. Texas Lutheran - 132.5
4. St. Thomas - 83
5. Southwestern - 72.5
6. Schreiner - 2
7. Centenary - 1
8. Dallas - 0
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Colorado College runners swept the awards stand for the second straight year and finished first through fifth in Sunday mornings first event, the 5,000 meters. Senior Clare Quinn (watch post race interview) picked up gold in the event after two consecutive years of runner-up finishes and crossed the line in a winning time of 18:11.58. Teammates and sophomores Sydney Rankin and Elliot Singer finished second and third, respectively, in times of 18:13.09 and 18:15.45 to earn silver and bronze for the Tigers.
- In the first field event of the morning, Trinity swept the top three positions on the awards stand in the triple jump for the second consecutive year led by sophomore Joy Areola (watch post event interview) who defended her title with a winning leap of 11.03 meters (36' 2 1/4"). She is the third straight Trinity woman to win the triple jump and the seventh in the last eight years. She is also the first woman to repeat in the event since former Trinity student-athlete Britney Sullivan in 2015 and 2016. Trinity sophomore Maddy Wietstruck placed second in this year's competition with a jump of 10.63 meters (34' 10 1/2") and first-year teammate Aliya Noe was third with a leap of 9.97 meters (32' 8 1/2").
- TLU picked up its third straight win in the shot put, with first-year Emagen Styra (watch post race interview) earning gold at this year's championship with a toss of 11.73 meters (38' 5 3/4"). Trinity's Kierra Francois picked up medal number three of the weekend with a second-place finish of 11.17 meters (36' 7 3/4"), improving on her third place finish from a year ago. Her teammate, junior Maggie Nava, was third with a throw of 11.05 meters (36' 3") after taking runner-up honors last year.
- First-year Emma Jones led a Colorado College sweep of the awards podium in the high jump - just the second time one school has taken the top three positions in the event and the first since Trinity in 2003. Jones posted a gold medal winning leap of 1.52 meters (4' 11 3/4") to the fourth CC woman to win the event in the last five championships. Junior teammate Emma Fowkes was second, also clearing 1.52 meters (4' 11 3/4") but with one more foul than Jones and junior April Kwan, who won the event last year, finished third by clearing 1.47 meters (4' 9 3/4").
- First-year Brianna Wilson of Texas Lutheran (watch post event interview) earned top honors in the discus, winning gold with a toss of 42.40 meters (139' 1") - the third-longest toss in the SCAC championship meet history. TLU teammate and sophomore Julissa Rodriguez, the co-Athlete of the Meet from a year ago earned silver the second consecutive year with a throw of 36.93 meters (121' 2"). Senior Kierra Francois of Trinity earned her fourth medal of the championships, taking third in the discus with a toss of 36.69 meters (120' 4").
- St. Thomas first-year Ebonee Nation picked up her first career gold medal with a win in the 100 meter hurdles (watch post race interview). She broke the tape at 15.03 to give the Celts their second individual win of the meet. Trinity senior Avery Puig finished second for the second time in her career (2021), crossing at 15.27 at this year's event. Puig's teammate, junior Hayley Huck, ws third in 15.84.
- Senior Taylor Kotfas of Trinity (watch post event interview) took top honors in the 400 meter dash, finishing with a winning time of 59.16. Her teammate, sophomore CC Gray who finished in third last year, was runner-up in this year's event in 59.49. First-year Clara Lippert of Colorad college placed third in a time of 1:00.36.
- The fastest woman at this year's meet was junior Trinity Murdock of Texas Lutheran (watch post race interview), who broke the tape in the 100 meters in a time of 12.30. A pair of St. Thomas runners followed as sophomore Ny'Cierra Hinton was second in 12.48 and first-year Ebonee Nation was third in 12.55. It was the second straight runner-up finish for Hinton at the conference meet.
- Sophomore Sydney Rankin of Colorado College (watch post race interview) took top honors in the 1500 meters with a time of 4:54.01. Just as she did a year ago, CC senior Clare Quinn finished in second, this year posting a time of 4:57.29. It was Quinn's second medal of the afternoon. Senior Paige Tangney of Trinity, who won the event in 2021, finished in third in a time of 4:58.26.
- The 2023 championship culminated with the 4x400 relay and the Trinity foursome of Taylor Kotfas, CC Gray, Sealan Ledat and Hayley Huck iced the team title for the Tigers by holding off St. Thomas for gold in a time of 4:03.09. UST was second in 4:05.14 and Colorado College was third in 4:13.34.
