A win in the 5,000m run by freshman Jessica Richardson (Columbus, Ind./North) led six top-ten finishes as Valparaiso competed this weekend at the Al Owens Classic in Allendale, Mich., hosted by Grand Valley State University.

Richardson crossed the line in the 5K on Saturday in 18:08.76, winning the event by nearly 25 seconds.  Two other top-tens for the Crusaders came on the track as well in the 3,000m steeplechase, as sophomore Nicole Zehel (Wixom, Mich./Lutheran Westland) ran to a fifth-place showing in the event with a personal-best time of 11:36.90, while freshman Eileen Carmignani (Naperville, Ill./Benet Academy) placed ninth in the same event.

On the infield, sophomore Sarah Drozdowski (Roselle, Ill./Lake Park) earned two top-ten finishes.  Drozdowski improved upon her third-best mark in Crusader history in the shot put, placing sixth with a toss of 42’6 ¾”, and registered a seventh-place finish in the javelin throw with a mark of 97’11”.  The sophomore also posted a season-best distance in the discus throw of 120’9” to finish in 18^th position and also competed in the hammer throw, finishing 16^th with a toss of 153’5”.

Sophomore Kelley Freeman (Valparaiso, Ind./Chesterton) rounded out the top-ten finishes for the Crusaders, clearing 10’10” in the pole vault to close the event in fifth place.  Freshman Brooke Hinstorff (Waterloo, Wis./Lakeside Lutheran) set a new PR in the triple jump, leaping 32’9 ½” to finish in 13^th place, and also led the way for Valpo in the long jump, placing 17^th with a jump of 15’8 ¾”.

On the track, freshman Kelli Wosick (Mount Prospect, Ill./Saint Viator) missed her PR in the 400m dash by just six-tenths of a second, crossing the line in 1:01.04.  Other running events saw freshman Malea Buck (Davenport, Iowa/Central) pace the Crusaders in the 100m and 200m dashes, sophomore Grace Shemwell (Clinton, Iowa/Clinton) lead Valpo in the 800m run and sophomore Claire Johnson (Eden Prairie, Minn./Eden Prairie) lead the Crusader contingent in the 1,500m run.

Valparaiso returns to the track next weekend at the Purdue Open in West Lafayette, Ind.  The two-day meet begins Friday afternoon, April 27 at 2 p.m. CDT.