SEWARD, Neb. – The College of Saint Mary indoor track & field team had one final "tune-up" meet before the Great Plains Athletic Conference meet. The Flames competed in the Concordia Indoor Classic Friday.

"Overall, it was a solid day for our athletes," CSM Coach Jerrid Johansen said. "Our goal today was to put up our best effort in hopes of qualifying for the GPAC Championships next weekend. We will know on Tuesday night if our athletes did enough to get in."

Claire Caspersen led the Flames by winning the shot put with a throw of 14.35m. Johansen said Caspersen had her best series of throws so far in her career with two marks over her previous all-time best and ended with a best mark of 14.35m – which equates to 47' 1".

"Claire was on today," he said. "She has been really working hard with Coach Drwal on some timing issues that have been holding her back a little and today things were starting to click for her again. She added a foot to her personal best and we think she is still capable of more."

Teammate Tavia Williams took 14^th in the event with 11.55m, Clare Ullery was 19^th with 10.88, Maria Bias placed 22^nd with 10.74 and Georgia Carroll was 27^th with 10.02.

In the weight throw, Ullery was 21^st (12.67), Caspersen took 24^th (12.18), Williams placed 25^th (11.93) and Madalynn Rhodes finished 29^th (9.18).

In other field events: Olivia Joyce was 13^th in the triple jump with 9.60 and 19^th in the long jump with 4.67, Allison Isaacson placed eighth in the pole vault with 3.02m and Taylor Hrabik was 11^th in the pole vault with 2.72.

In the track events, the Flames had eight athletes run the mile. Brooke Wigdahl was fifth in 5:35.02 (school record), Lorena Ramirez placed sixth in 5:41.86, Corinne Mead took seventh in 5:43.99, Kiley Craft took 13^th in 5:56.87, Madeline Krause was 14^th in 5:57.55, Kaitlyn Thalman finished 18^th in 6:27.51, Alivia Austin was 20^th in 6:44.46 and Emma Lee finished 21^st in 7:38.55.

Running the 1,000m for the Flames was Wigdahl (eighth, 3:18.55, school record), Mead (10^th, 3:21.21) and Ramirez (13^th, 3:22.80) and running the 3,000 was Ella Miller (5^th, 12:03.06) and Krause (6^th, 12:14.32).

"Brooke and Mira led the charge from the distance squad, but Coach Derek Fey and I were very happy with the whole group," Johansen said. "Lorena and Corinne were right there with Brooke in both races today, and together they now have the top three times in program history in both the mile and the 1,000m. Autumn has been racing with a lot more confidence lately and set two personal-bests in the 600m and 800m. Madeline did the same in the mile and 3,000. After a quick count, I think our distance group set 14 new personal bests today, which is what you would hope to see right before the conference meet."

In the 60m, Kellesse Heard was 7^th in 8.06, Ava Hilger took 10^th in 8.33 and Hrabik placed 11^th in 8.41. In the 200m, Heard was 10^th in 27.56 and Hilger placed 11^th in 27.67.

In the 600m, Mira Fosmer stopped the clock in 1:46.13 for fourth place, Natalie Briggs ran 1:49.97 for seventh, Autumn Simons posted a time of 1:51.98 for eighth and Peyton Bell ran 1:52.70 for ninth. In the 800, Mira Fosmer was sixth in 2:26.69 (school record), Simons was 15^th in 2:32.97 and Bell was 19^th in 2:38.35.

"On the sprints side, I thought Ava really stood out today," Johansen said. "She joined us in January after playing for the volleyball team this fall, and in four short weeks she has already shown us the caliber of athlete she is. She ran a solid race in the 60m, a distance that is not really suited to her strengths, and then she came back and ran 27.5 in the 200m and won her heat in the process. Ava is a competitor and loves to put in the work at practice and in the weight room, and we're excited to see her progress continue into the outdoor season."

The GPAC Indoor Championships are Feb. 17, hosted by Mount Marty University.