SPRINGFIELD, Ohio -- The Kenyon College women's track and field team started its indoor season by competing in the Wittenberg Tiger Collegiate Opener. The Owls placed in seven of 16 events at the outing, hosted by fellow North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) member Wittenberg University.
Wasting no time getting back to midseason form, Paula Soric secured Kenyon's best finish of the day. Coming off NCAC Field Athlete of the Year honors for both the indoor and outdoor seasons, Soric secured second place in the triple jump. After fouls on her first two attempts, the junior jumped 11.74 meters (38' 6¼") on her fifth leap. The distance was just 0.01 meters, half an inch, off the program-record mark she made in last year's final indoor meet. Unfortunately for Soric, she had to settle for second after Centre College's Jasmine Claunch recorded an 11.94-meter (39' 2¼") jump that also came on the fifth attempt.
Kenyon tallied two additional top-10 finishes, both coming in the 800-meter run. Sophomore Anna Brown ran the race in 2:23.22, which earned a fifth-place finish. Logan Vidal, a junior, finished about 10 ticks behind at 2:33.08, good for ninth.
The other Owls placements came in a trio of field events and a pair of track races. In field competition, three first-years made their mark for Kenyon. Olivia Gumz (4.53 meters (14' 10½")) and Sadie Olson (4.22 meters (13' 10¼")) placed 19th and 22nd, respectively, in the long jump. In the shot put, their classmate Ali Murray ranked 29th with an 8.24-meter (27' 0½") toss. Murray also clinched 28th in the weight throw with a distance of 7.33 meters (24' 0").
Another first-year, Caroline Hitsman, had a solid showing on the track as she won her heat in both the 200- and 400-meter races. In the 200, Hitsman placed 21st with a time of 27.47. She clocked in at 1:05.96 in the 400, which ranked 30th and just 0.16 seconds behind teammate Caeleigh Stamper. Stamper, a sophomore, placed 29th at 1:05.80. In the same 400-meter race, Grace Sparks was 38th with a time of 1:15.99. Back in the 200-meter dash, Isabella Roach (29.27) and Alina Secrest (29.60) finished close together in 42nd and 44th, respectively.
Kenyon will have to wait until the calendar turns over to return to competition. The Owls' next outing is scheduled for Saturday, January 13, when Kenyon will head to another NCAC institution, The College of Wooster, for the Wooster Invitational.
