Women's Track and Field | 4/12/2015 3:21:00 PM

ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Bethel University women's track and field team continued their outdoor season on Saturday and picked up right where they left off following a three-week layoff.  The team traveled to nearby Hamline University, where they will return for the Meet of the Unsaintly in early May.

"It was a beautiful day, I was pleased with the performances and extremely proud of how our team continues to do well and really be a close group," assessed head coach Andrew Rock.

The Royal women enjoyed particular success in the distance events on Saturday, as several athletes easily surpassed their season and career-bests.  Freshman Annika Halverson ascended to No. 15 in the nation in the 1500-meter run with a time of 4:39.79, while teammates Mollie Gillberg and Melody Walton took the top-two spots in the 3000-meter steeplechase.

In addition to the trio aforementioned, Rebecca Wesley and Erin Alpers took fourth and sixth-place, respectively, in the 800-meter run with Alpers beating her personal best by nearly five seconds.

In the sprints, sophomore Jillian Krier continued her momentum from the indoor season by taking second in the 100-meter dash with a time of 12.76 seconds.  Junior Renee Johnson also made big improvements in the 400-meter hurdles while the 1600-meter relay team finished off the day with a fourth-place finish.  

In the field events, freshman Amanda Passaglia had a big performance in the hammer throw with a distance of 42.17 meters and senior teammate Angela Substad finished third in the pole vault with a height of 3.25 meters.

After getting back to competition, the Royals will now face their most important stretch of the season as they have three more competitions to prepare for the outdoor conference championships.  They will be traveling to Wheaton College in Illinois next weekend for the Don Church Twilight.