Flames have complete team effort at Dutch Invite
PELLA, Iowa – College of Saint Mary Track & Field Coach Jerrid Johansen said his squad responded to favorable weather conditions Friday at the Central College Dutch Invite.
"Indoor or outdoor season – this was our most complete effort as a team," Johansen said. "Every event group showed progress today. We had a national qualifier, an event winner and multiple top-3 finishes. We also set a new school record and we set several lifetime personal-bests."
Claire Caspersen led the way for the Flames with a throw of 13.12m in the shot put. The throw earned her sixth place and an NAIA 'B' qualifying standard.
"Claire is just getting back into the swing of things after the indoor national meet," Johansen said. "It's great to see her hit that qualifying mark without being anywhere close to her best right now."
Johansen said Chantaya Griffin had the top performance on the track when she clocked a time of 2:19.35 in the 800m. That time gave Griffin third place and beat her school-record time in the event from last year.
"Chantaya has been surprising us all year," Johansen said. "She hasn't raced since the indoor national meet in March and she hasn't run an 800 in over a year. And then in her first race she goes sub-2:20. She's a special athlete and we love watching her compete each week."
Johansen said other top performers were Madalynn Rhodes in the javelin and Chloe Inhelder in the 5,000.
Rhodes took second place with her mark of 38.37 – which is just shy of the national qualifying mark.
Inhelder brought home a blue-ribbon finish with a time of 19:20.54 in the 5,000.
"Madalynn and Chloe are two of our hardest workers and most determined athletes, so it's nice to see their efforts being rewarded with top finishes," Johansen said.
In other field events for the Flames: Chainey Thompson was 20th in the long jump with 4.23; Tavia Williams and Georgia Carroll tied for 20th in the shot put with 10.38; Caspersen placed 12th in the discus with 34.85; Carroll was 22nd in the discus with 30.54; Williams finished 23rd in the discus with 30.34 and Evelyn Carreto placed 29th in the discus with 27.07.
In the other track events for the Flames: Autumn Simons placed 26th in the 800 in 2:34.91; Abby Ridout was 37th in the 800 in 2:43.49; Corinne Mead took 28th in the 1,500 in 5:21.86; Kiley Craft placed 33rd in the 1,500 in 5:37.19; Madeline Krause was 34th in the 1,500 in 5:40.28; Alivia Austin finished 39th in the 1,500 in 5:52.35; Brooke Wigdahl placed fifth in the 3,000 steeplechase in 12:54.64; Jocelyn Farhar was sixth in the 3,000 steeplechase in 13:03.16 and Lorena Ramirez was fifth in the 5,000 in 21:44.97.
In relay action, the CSM combination of Griffin, Simons, Wigdahl and Mead took seventh place in the 4x400 relay in 4:23.93.
"We had a couple of nice performances early in the meet and you could sense the excitement building and the confidence growing with our athletes," Johansen said. "Today's meet was a super-positive experience in nearly every way and we will look to build on this momentum next week."
After a couple of days off this weekend the Flames will get back to work next week to prepare for the Concordia Invite on April 14-15.