The Valparaiso women’s track and field team completed its final tuneup for the 2010 Horizon League Outdoor Championships on Saturday, competing at the Aquinas Open in Grand Rapids, Mich.

Freshman Kara Connelly (Sugar Grove, Ill./West Aurora) matched her season-best effort in the pole vault, clearing 9’4 ¼” to finish in second place, her highest career finish in the event.  Jorie Ballun (Oswego, Ill./Oswego) earned a fourth-place finish in the 400m hurdles, while Alyssa Bradford (Mukwonago, Wis./Mukwonago) ran just off her season best in the 800m run, crossing the line in fifth place with a time of 2:18.48.

In the throws, Ini Umana (Cottage Grove, Minn./Park) led the way again for the Crusaders, finishing fifth in the hammer throw with a toss of 146’0” while also placing ninth in the discus throw with a mark of 120’10”.  Natalie McCorriston (Lansdowne, Pa./Cardinal O’Hara) also picked up a pair of top-ten finishes Saturday, setting a career-best with a toss of 132’4” in the hammer throw, good for eighth place.  The sophomore also posted a mark of 31’4 ½” in the shot put to finish tenth.

Valparaiso kicks off the three-day 2010 Horizon League Outdoor Championships this Friday, April 30, in Lisle, Ill.  The first event is slated for a 10 a.m. start.