The Valparaiso women’s track and field team, led by Lindsey Gilman’s (South Bend, Ind./Marian) sixth-place finish in the javelin throw, kicked off their competition at the 2010 Horizon League Outdoor Championships in Lisle, Ill. on Saturday.

Valpo sits in eighth place entering the final day of competition on Sunday.  Milwaukee enters Sunday atop the team standings with 76 points.

Gilman posted a career-best effort in the javelin throw, tossing the implement 101’8” for her sixth-place finish to put a point on the board for the Crusaders.  Valpo picked up two other top-ten finishes on Saturday as well, as Ini Umana (Hastings, Minn./Park) finished seventh in the discus throw with a toss of 137’10”.  On the track, Sara Christensen (Bettendorf, Iowa/Pleasant Valley) recorded Valpo’s best finish, placing eighth in the 3,000m steeplechase with a time of 12:12.36.

Elsewhere on the track, Alyssa Bradford (Mukwonago, Wis./Mukwonago) qualified for Sunday’s event final in the 800m run, qualifying sixth-fastest in Saturday’s heats by crossing the line in 2:19.33.  Haley Kerlin (Rensselaer, Ind./Rensselaer) posted the Crusaders’ best finish in the 10,000m run, which was postponed from Friday night, completing the race in 40:05.33, good for 12th place.  Jorie Ballun (Oswego, Ill./Oswego) was 11th-fastest in the preliminaries of the 400m hurdles, but failed to qualify for the event final Sunday.

Valparaiso concludes action at the league’s outdoor championships on Sunday.  The first event is scheduled for a 10 a.m. start.