Monday, February 26, 2007

The Valparaiso women's track and field team registered 85 points, its highest point total in team history, as the two-day Mid-Continent Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships concluded Monday in Bloomington, Ill. The Crusaders used four runner-up finishes from four different athletes to tally the record point total.

Valpo's 85 points was good for a fourth-place finish, matching the highest finish at a Mid-Con indoor meet in school history. Oral Roberts took home the team title with 198.5 points.

Laura Rolf (Rochester, Mich./Lutheran Northwest) followed up her record-setting performance in the 3,000m run Sunday with a second-place finish in the mile run Monday. Rolf crossed the line in 4:55.95, less than three seconds behind the event winner. She led three Valpo runners in the top-six in the event, as Danielle Nunnelly (Valparaiso, Ind./Valparaiso) finished fifth and Ashley Billstrom (Hales Corners, Wis./Whitnall) sixth with times of 5:06.96 and 5:11.43, respectively.

Nunnelly and Billstrom each ran in the 800m run as well Monday. Nunnelly ran to a runner-up finish with a time of 2:16.29, less than a second off of her personal best in the event. Billstrom placed seventh with a time of 2:23.56.

Emilie Marsicek (Spalding, Mich./Carney-Nadeau) placed second in the shot put with a toss of 41'10". Marsicek competed in the high jump as well, finishing 11th with a leap of 5'0 ¼", matching the second-best height in the event in school history.

Lakisha Lane (Topeka, Kan./Highland Park) ran to a second-place finish in the 60m hurdles after posting the fastest qualifying time. Lane completed the race in 9.02, lowering her own second-best time in Valpo history. Melanie Wilson (Saint Louis, Mo./Rosati-Kain) finished seventh in the same event with a time of 9.57, while also posting a leap of 34'9 ½" in the triple jump, good for eighth place.

Amanda Body (Harlan, Ky./Harlan) posted three top-eight finishes Monday, placing fifth in the triple jump (35'7 ¼"), seventh in the 200m dash (25.92) and eighth in the 60m dash (8.04). Rachael Button (Farmington, Mich./Farmington) came home sixth in the 5,000m run with a time of 18:48.92, while Carissa Heinold (Charleston, Ill./Charleston) cleared a height of 8'6 ¼" in the pole vault for seventh place.

Valpo's 4x400m relay team posted the second-best time all-time in Crusader history Monday. The team of Body, Randol Alexander (Westfield, Ind./Westfield), Sara Christensen (Bettendorf, Iowa/Pleasant Valley) and Lane placed fifth, finishing the race in 4:05.55.