Marian Completes Crossroads League Championship in Commanding Fashion
Crossroads League Championships Central
UPLAND, Ind. - For the second time in three seasons, the Marian women's track and field team dominated the Crossroads League, winning the CL Indoor Track and Field Championship. The Knights scored 215 points as a team, blowing out the field by 99 points as Grace took second, followed by Bethel in third. Marian had 14 All-Crossroads League performances on Saturday, led by Jocelynn Burton's two first place finishes and Erin Oleksak and Jai-Lyn Norwood's first and second place finishes. Norwood ended the meet as the Crossroads League's most outstanding field athlete of the weekend.
Marian began their second day of the league meet with the women's high jump, as the Knights cleaned up earning each of the top three spots on the podium. Gina Butz won the league championship with a 1.65m jump to hit the NAIA 'B' standard, while Erin Oleksak and Jai-Lyn Norwood both tied for second place clearing 1.60m. The action then began on the track as Sydni Montgomery posted Marian's best effort in the mile with a 12th place finish, followed by Hannah Zubay in 16th and Kiley Breeden finishing 22nd.
The Knights then picked up a big score in the 60m hurdle finals, racking up 19 points as Oleksak won the finals with a season-best time of 8.91 seconds. Gabi Allen earned her first career All-Crossroads League honor finishing third with a time of 8.98 seconds, and DeJae Hudson scored for the team with her sixth place finish. Shortly after, Marian picked up another 19 points to their team score as Norwood earned the gold in the triple jump with an 11.41m jump. Naomi Walters earned her first career indoor All-Crossroads League honor with her runner-up effort of 10.98m distance, and Sandy Sledge finished eighth competing in her third-ever triple jump.
In the final women's field event of the weekend, Arriana Benjamin claimed her second victory of the weekend to lead Marian in the shot put. Benjamin won the event with a 13.78m mark, adding another mantle to her breakout season. Sarah Spangler added to Marian's score with her personal best throw of 11.56m which was good for sixth, while Paige Hoog placed eighth with an 11.29m effort.
With the action focused back on the track, Giorgia Mameli set a new PR with a third place finish by hitting the start line in 1:00.19. Norwood turned her action to the track with a sixth place finish hitting the line in 1:00.85, and just missing a top-eight finish was Taylor Thomas who placed ninth in 1:01.70. Next in the 60m finals, Jocelynn Burton took home her fist win of the day with a lightning fast 7.67 second time. Burton was joined on the podium by MaKayla Melvin who finished third in 7.95 seconds, and Mameli joined the group with an eight place finish.
Adrianna Boyd continued her busy weekend in the 800m with a fourth place finish, setting a PR with a 2:20.38 time. Nora Steele also scored points for the team in the 800m with her seventh place time of 2:25.09, and just missing a finalist time was Josie DeFreese who finished ninth. Liz Loichinger scored a sixth place finish in the 1000m with her 3:08.47 time, while Luci Woodrum finished 12th with a 3:23.58 time.
Burton returned to claim her second victory of the night in the 200m as she clocked an NAIA 'B' standard time with her 25.48 second race. Allen earned her second all-league honor in the 200m with a third place finish, hitting the line in 25.96 seconds to set a new personal best. Melvin rounded out the 200m with a seventh place time of 26.64 seconds. In the 3000m, Montgomery posted Marian's best finish in 13th with a 11:15.48 time, while Catherine Newhart finished 14th. Mari Hudson finished 18th in the 3000m.
In the final event of the meet, the women's 4x400m relay team took second place, losing a fight with Grace College on the final leg of the relay. Melvin, Mameli, Thomas, and Boyd made up the Knights' team, finishing the race with a 4:02.73 time to claim the sixth best time in program history. The race completed the meet, with Marian finishing with their second championship.
After the meet concluded, Marian's head coach Michael Holman was named the Crossroads League Coach of the Year, leading Marian to the largest margin of victory in the history of the meet.
Marian will now begin training for the NAIA National Championships, which begin on March 3 in Brookings, South Dakota, held once again at South Dakota State University.
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