Freshman Sarah Drozdowski posted the second-best performance in program history in the weight throw Saturday as the Valparaiso women's track and field squad opened the 2010-2011 indoor campaign at the Early Bird Open in Normal, Ill., hosted by Illinois State.

Drozdowski, competing in her first collegiate meet, registered a mark of 50'0 3/4” in the weight throw to finish in sixth place.  Only the second athlete in Valpo women's track history to surpass 50 feet in the event, Drozdowski now only trails Holly Hagen in the Crusader annals in the weight throw.  The freshman also posted an 11th-place showing in the shot put, recording a distance of 37'3 1/4” on her best toss.

Elsewhere on the infield Saturday, Kelly Freeman cleared a height of 9'6 1/4” in the pole vault, good for a seventh-place finish for the freshman in the event.  Sophomore Kara Connelly finished right behind Freeman in a tie for eighth place, as she cleared 9'0 1/4”.  Freshman Marissa Crafton also recorded a top-ten finish in her first collegiate meet, placing ninth in the triple jump with a leap of 33'1 1/4”, while also finishing 12th in the long jump by jumping 15'5 1/2”.

Valparaiso will not take to the track again until Saturday, Jan. 14, when the Crusaders travel to Allendale, Mich. to compete at the Bob Eubanks Open.