LOUISVILLE – Junior Tricia Steffen established a new school record as the Wilmington College women's track & field team competed at the Bellarmine Invitational for its first outdoor meet of the season.
Steffen (Baltimore, OH/Liberty Union) placed 10th in the 1500 with the time of 4:53.70. The time also enabled her to qualify for the Ohio Athletic Conference outdoor championships.
"Tricia had a great race in the 1500 on Saturday to break the school record," said Wilmington head coach Ron Combs. "We originally planned to run the 5000 on Friday, but we scratched her out of that because of really poor weather conditions. It worked out for her and she had a great race on Saturday."
For the team, it was their first opportunity to test themselves in the outdoor season, and they did so against a very talented field.
"It was great to finally get a competition in for the outdoor season," said Combs. "I thought both teams competed well. This will be one of the most competitive meets we go to all year. We were one of two Division III schools at the meet. The meet was largely D1, D2, and NAIA Scholarship schools. The field included the NAIA National Champion in Indiana Tech. It was a great opportunity to compete against such a high level of competition"
Five other athletes reached the qualifying marks for the OAC Championships.
Freshman Kourtney Kaemming (Defiance, OH/Tinora) was the only women's athlete to qualify in two different events – the shot put (9.46m) and the hammer (36.14). Sophomore Marissa Bolen (Gibsonburg, OH/Gibsonburg) also qualified in the hammer (37.60).
The field events continued to be fruitful for the Fightin' Quakers as sophomore Kelsie Redway (Toledo, OH/Whitmer) qualified in the high jump (1.45m), and freshman Angela Dorsett (Pittsburgh, PA/West Mifflin) earned the mark in the triple jump (9.33m).
Junior Sarah Murphy (West Liberty, OH/West Liberty Salem) posted a qualifying time in the 100 hurdles (16.75).
Wilmington returns to the track Saturday, competing in the All-Ohio meet at Ohio Wesleyan.