Saturday, February 02, 2013

Jessica Richardson (Columbus, Ind./North) and Nicole Zehel (Wixom, Mich./Lutheran Westland) each set season-bests in leading the Crusader women’s track team at the Meyo Invitational in South Bend, Ind. and the YSU National Invitational in Youngstown, Ohio, respectively.

At the Meyo Invitational, Richardson posted a season-best in the 5000-meter run, crossing the line with a time of 17:33.29. This time bettered her previous best time this season by more than 17 seconds.

Also at Meyo Invitational, Sarah Drozdowski (Roselle, Ill./Lake Park) had a pair of top-20 finishes. She finished 13^th in the weight throw (53’11”) and 18^th in the shot put (41’10”).

Zehel led the way at the YSU National Invitational with a sixth-place finish in the one-mile run. Her time of 5:09.52 was more than seven seconds better than her previous best mark this season.

The Crusaders placed 10^th at the meet, garnering eight points.

Valparaiso returns to the track on Friday, Feb. 8 at the Chicagoland Championships in Naperville, Ill.