CRETE, Neb. – It was worth the wait.

With poor weather conditions forecast for Friday and Saturday, the meet officials for the Jim Dutcher Memorial Classic made the decision to move the track & field meet to Sunday. And it worked out well for the College of Saint Mary squad.

The Flames broke three school records and had several other personal bests at the competition held by Doane University.

"It was a solid all-around day for us," CSM Coach Jerrid Johansen said. "With temperatures in the 50s, sunshine and light winds it was a near-perfect day for the distance athletes to race. Our distance squad has been training really well and they took advantage of the favorable conditions. It's great to see their efforts rewarded with personal bests and program records."

Breaking school records for CSM were Corinne Mead, Brooke Wigdahl and the 4x800 relay team.

Mead placed 12^th in the 1,500m in 5:13.42; Wigdahl was seventh in the 3,000 steeplechase in 12:41.22 and the foursome of Autumn Simons, Mead, Madeline Krause and Kiley Craft placed second in the 4x800 in 10:27.72.

"Corinne won her heat and lowered her personal best by eight seconds in setting her record," Johansen said. "Brooke lowered her personal best by 13 seconds while setting her record and the relay team ran the fastest time in program history while also taking second place."

The relay team's finish was the highest placing for the team at the meet. The Flames had four other Top-10 finishes as Madalynn Rhodes took third in the javelin with 38.55; Claire Caspersen placed fifth in the shot put in 13.17; Jocelyn Farhar was ninth in the 3,000 steeplechase in 13:34.52 and Chloe Inhelder took ninth in the 5,000 in 19:21.24.

"Away from the track, the throwers had a solid day as well with Madalynn and Claire leading the way," Johansen said. "Madalynn was the top NAIA finisher in the javelin and Claire finished fifth in the shot. After an off week, it was good to see our throwers have some solid performances. Madalynn is so close to hitting the qualifying standard in the javelin and Claire put a couple more throws out past the qualifying mark in the shot put. They are both doing good things, but there is a lot of things they can work on to improve those marks."

Johansen said other personal bests for the Flames came from Autumn Simons in the 400 where she took 20^th place in 1:04.86; Abby Ridout in the 800 for 18^th place in 2:38.54 and three CSM runners in the 1,500 – Krause placed 19^th in 5:27.28; Lorena Ramirez was 20^th in 5:31.71; Craft finished 21^st in 5:33.89.

Other CSM competitors and finishes were: Alivia Austin took 24^th in the 1,500 in 5:56.90; Caspersen was 17^th in the discus with 33.84; Georgia Carroll took 25^th in the discus in 29.98; Tavia Williams placed 18^th in the shot put with 11.25; Carroll was 23^rd in the shot put with 10.70 and Evelyn Carreto finished 28^th in the shot put with 9.48.

"We have a quick turnaround with the Nebraska Wesleyan Invite on Friday and Saturday and then the GPAC meet in two weeks," Johansen said. "The season is winding down quickly and we only have one more chance to qualify for the conference meet. Hopefully we can reset quickly and get ready to compete again in five days."