Ball State track and field closed out the Gladstein Invitational Saturday afternoon by recording two more event wins, including a program record 600m run by junior sprinter Kayla Jones
Second-year sprinter Jenna Oriani had two first-overall heat finishes throughout the invitational with a 60-meter dash time of 7.58 seconds, a 200-meter dash time of 24.59 and landed a second-place overall time in the 400-meter relay with a time of 3:53.7. She ran lead-off in a relay that included third-year sprinter Alexis Thigpen, Jones and first-year sprinter Leila Williams-Molit.
“She [Oriani] has been dialed into her training and her competitions,” head coach Adrian Wheatly said. “I have been extremely pleased with Jenna’s performance this year from the first meet in December to where we are today”.
Oriani was not the only one finishing with first-place overalls as Jones also set a new PR and landed a first overall finish with a time of 1:30.9 in the 600-meter dash while second-year distance runner Carly Spietzer had a first overall finish in the 3000 meter with a time of 10:11.62.
“The team’s energy throughout the competition was encouraging,” Wheatley said. “From race to race, we continue to gain momentum throughout the competition.”
In the long jump, fourth-year Charity Griffith placed second in Long Jump with a 5.79-meter jump. Griffith had also placed 5th in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.86 seconds and had helped her relay partners pace 4th overall in the 400-meter relay along with Lindley Steele, Lea-Marie Diedicke, and Jenelle Rogers.
Also in the long jump, third-year Jenelle Rogers finished fourth, second-year Mariah Johnson finished 17th and second-year Mckenna Cinotte placed 22nd overall.
In the 60-meter dash that Oriani placed first overall, first-year Alana Springer finished third overall, first-year Lindley Steele finished fifth and Johnson placed sixth overall. Oriani and Springer also placed first and second overall in the 200-meter dash.
Second-year Emma Potter placed second overall in the 400-meter dash, followed by first-year Allison Valladay placing fifth and Leila Williams-Molitor finishing eighth.
Jones and Thigpen had placed first and second overall in the 600-meter dash with Williams-Molitor following right behind in 5h place.
For the 1 mile run, second-year Jenna Schifferer placed 23rd and second-year Ella Fullmer placed 24th overall.
Schifferer also had top 20 placing in the 3000 meter run at ninth overall with a time of 10:37.20 minutes.
Lastly, two Ball state relays finished in the top five of the 400 meter relay with the first group (Thigpen, Oriani, Jones and Williams-Molit) placing second with a time of 3:53.57 minutes and the other group (Steele, Diedicke, Griffith and Rogers) placing fourth overall with a time of 3:57.65.
Ball State Track and Field will be headed back to Bloomington, Indiana for the traditional IU Relay match Jan. 27-28.
Contact Bella Bonilla with comments at isabella.bonilla@bsu.edu or on Twitter @bellabonilla14.
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