RESULTS | Day 1 Recap

WINONA, Minn. - The women's track and field team earned 4th place at the MIAC Outdoor Championships scoring 113 team points, just 4.33 points behind 2nd place.

Hannah Sankey and Jessica Lilland earned event titles for the Royals on Saturday. Sankey pulled away from the field in the final stretch to win the 400m convincingly in a season best time of 57.06. Jessica Lilland had a season best performance to win the pole vault. Lilland cleared her first 3 bars on the first attempt, and won with her clearance at 3.50m / 11'5.75". 

Jireh Babalola had a terrific meet for the Royals. Babalola had lifetime bests in the 100m and the 200m and earned podium finishes in both events. She took 2nd in the 100m with a time of 12.25, the 4th fastest in program history. At the end of the day, Babalola took 3rd in the 200m with another lifetime best of 25.63, also the 4th fastest in program history.

Babalola also led off the 4x100m relay team that took 3rd place. Britta Nordberg, Makenna Brown, and Sankey also added to the relay to run a season best 48.69. The 4x400m relay team of Sankey, Nordberg, Brown, and Mikayla Turek combined for a time of 3:56.43, which placed the 2nd overall.

Turek came up with 8 points for the Royals with her 2nd place finish in the 400m hurdles. Her time of 1:04.88 was just 0.1 off her season best.

Kelsie Sealock added more points for Bethel, scoring in two different individual events. Sealock ran a season best 14.06 in the 100m hurdles to take 2nd place. That time was under the previous MIAC Conference Meet record and is currently the 4th best time in Division III this year. Sealock also showed her strength in the javelin. In just her 3rd competition, Sealock heaved the javelin 37.00m / 121'5" to take 5th place. That is the 4th best throw in program history.

Abbie Swenson also made her mark in the javelin. Swenson threw a personal best 34.17m / 112'1" to take 8th place. That is the 9th best throw in program history.

Bethel earned more points in the throws from Emma Roethler's 4th place in the shot put with her throw of 12.42m / 40'9". Lexi Ellinghuysen added one point for her 8th place finish in the hammer throw as she tossed it 41.52m / 136'3".

In the distance events, freshman Josie Harms led the way for Bethel. Harms finished 4th in the 3000m steeplechase with a lifetime best 11:44.93, the 4th fastest in program history. Erika Swanson also scored points in the steeplechase, adding 3 points for her 6th place finish. Swanson ran a season best 11:50.46. Malakai Holloway had a strong showing in the 800m, taking 6th place with her time of 2:23.60 to add to her 5th place finish on the 4x800m relay on Friday night. 

The Royals also earned several key points in the jumps. AnnaGrace Nelson took 3rd place in the high jump with a season best leap of 1.56m / 5'125". Nelson also took 5th place in the triple jump with 10.88m / 35'8.5" to go along with her 7th place finish in the MIAC Heptathlon a week earlier. Senior Grace Perrenoud placed 6th in the triple jump with her mark of 10.86m / 35'7.75". Ella Eliason earned her first points for Bethel at the conference meet, as she placed 7th in the long jump with her mark of 5.03m / 16'6".