After a two-week layoff, the Crusader women returned to action on Saturday at the Mastodon Invitational. As a team, the Crusaders finished the day with multiple top-ten finishes and two first-place finishes. Elizabeth Bloy and Sarah Drozdowski each took first in their respective events; Bloy in the 1-mile run and Drozdowski in the shot put.

In the 1-mile run Bloy took first-place in convincing fashion, clocking in at 5:14.21, a full six seconds faster than the second-place finisher. Bloy also took second in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:19.85. In the same event teammate Nicole Zehel finished with a time of 2:21.11, good for fourth overall.

In the 60-meter dash, Cleo Holt finished second with a time of 8.13. Maisley Strange (8.47), Malea Buck (8.70), and Heather Mende (8.74) finished the same event in fifth, sixth, and seventh respectively. Holt also finished fifth in the 200-meter dash (27.10). Kelli Wosick (28.23), Buck (28.58), and Strange (28.72) rounded out the top-ten in that same event.

Sophia Robinson finished seventh in the 3000-meter run with a time of 11:54.37.

Elsewhere on the track, Valparaiso’s 4x400-meter ‘A’ team clocked in at a time of 4:10.19, a time good enough for third overall.

In the field events, Drozdowski took first-place in the weight throw. Drozdowski threw for 57’4 ¾” – a distance which placed her at the top of Valparaiso’s all-time chart. In the same event teammate Megan Howdeshell finished in fourth, throwing for 48’4 ¾”, while Rachel Petersen (29’11 ¼”) finished 10^th. Drozdowski also finished second in the shot put, clearing a distance of 41’3 ½”.

Ann Chapman (14’11”) finished third in the long jump. Chapman also finished fifth overall in the triple jump with a distance of 31’9 ¾”. Elsewhere, Jazmin Taylor (5’4 ¼”) finished second in the high jump. With the effort, Taylor moved up on the Crusader’s all-time chart.

Up next for the Crusader women is the Meyo Invitational in South Bend, Ind. The meet is scheduled to begin on Friday, February 7^th.