Marian Women's Track Completes Third-Consecutive CL Indoor Championship
Crossroads League Championships Central
INDIANAPOLIS - For the third consecutive year and the fourth time in five years, the Marian women's track and field team has earned the Crossroads League Indoor Track and Field Championship. Marian's championship was fueled by multiple All-Crossroads League finishes on Saturday, as Marian scored their seventh overall championship in track and field for indoor and outdoor season.
Marian entered the day with 81 points on the board after their successful Friday, and added six more to their score after the first event of the day as the 60m hurdles hit its final. Brooke Coffman finished fifth in the hurdle finals with a time of 9.22 seconds, and Nina Marinkovic finished with a 9.33 second effort to take seventh place. In the 60m finals just 10 minutes later, the Knights added another 11 points to their total, with Catalla Jones finishing second in the 60m finals with a 7.77 second effort. Giorgia Mameli would finish sixth in the 60m with a time of 8.00 seconds.
In the women's mile race, Brooke Trinkle scored Marian's only top-eight finish as the freshman took eighth place, clocking a time of 5:21.82. Gracynn Hinkley and Emma Beimfohr would finish 16th and 17th in the mile. During the 3000m race later in the event, Katie Woods took a seventh place finish to lead Marian as she clocked a time of 10:28.06. Lainey Roth would take 12th in the 3000m and Josie Feldman finished 17th overall.
As the mile race concluded, the four women's field events reached their finish, with Marian gaining separation from the field with their performances. In the high jump, Gina Butz landed the victory, clearing 1.68m as her NAIA A standard mark landed a victory. Butz's win came in a tie-breaker, as she passed the bar at 1.65m in less attempts than runner-up Erica Xayarath of Huntington. Brooke Coffman would add a fifth place finish in the high jump to Marian's team total, while Nina Marinkovic finished with a 10th place effort. In triple jump Shirmara Anderson placed fourth hitting a mark of 10.89m, and Holli Reuter finished seventh with a mark of 10.26m. Naomi Walters missed a scoring place as she took ninth with a distance of 10.14m.
Arriana Benjamin claimed her second win of the weekend with her win in the shot put, as she pulled an upset over Indiana Wesleyan's Princess Kara. Benjamin's final attempt effort of 14.73m pushed her into first place, as Kara was unable to break the leading distance on her final throw, giving the Knight the win. Marian added an eighth place finish from Gabi Bilbrey in the event, as she took eighth with a distance of 11.69m. In the pole vault, Mia Curran scored an eighth place finish, hitting a 3.07m height. Alli Taylor finished 12th in the pole vault clearing 2.87m.
The mid-distance teams would highlight the finishing touches of Marian's championship, starting with the 400m as Hanna Reuter and Taylor Thomas earned All-Crossroads League times. Reuter finished second with a 58.30 second time while hitting an NAIA B standard, and Thomas finished with a 58.81 time in her third place outing. Maya Mundy would finish 16th in the 400m. Claire Lange continued her busy weekend with a runner-up finish in the 800m, clocking a 2:18.72 time to score eight points for Marian's team score. Nora Steele finished fifth in the 800m with a time of 2:22.80, and Adrianna Boyd finished eighth overall running out of the first heat with a time ot 2:25.
Katie Woods landed a win in the 1000m and further extended her Marian record, as posted an NAIA A standard time of 2:56.52 to earn the win. Liz Loichinger turned in an NAIA B standard time of 3:01.70 to finish fourth overall, and Rosie Barrett would finish just outside of the scoring athletes with her 10th place finish. The 200m was Marian's final scoring race from individuals, as Catalla Jones finished fourth overall with a 25.76 time, while Hanna Reuter finished sixth with a 25.87 time. Kathy Soriano would finish 11th overall.
The event concluded with the 4x400m relay, as Marian left little doubt who the top team was as they clocked a 3:55.07 time, placing first with an NAIA A standard mark. Marian's team was made up of Catalla Jones, Hanna Reuter, Taylor Thomas, and Claire Lange, with the quartet breaking the Crossroads League meet record by two seconds.
Marian broke multiple school and Crossroads League meet records in their championship, and ended their day with a final score of 193.5. Marian defeated runner-up Taylor by 53.5 points, while Huntington, Indiana Wesleyan, and Bethel rounded out the top-five team scores.