ST. PAUL, Minn. - Down the road on Saturday, the University of Northwestern Women's Track and Field team competed against a field of 21 teams at the Bethel Invitational. UNW had seven season or career bests as they competed in 11 events throughout the meet. 

Grace Magnuson opened the meet as she let the first throw of the day fly in the discus, starting in position one of the first heat. She threw 24.36 meters (79'11"), placing 30th. She also threw shot put for the first time in her collegiate career. She heaved a throw of 8.38 meters (27'06") to secure a 34th-place finish. On the other side of the stadium, Emily Ashton (Camas, Wash./St. Mary's Academy) needed just one throw in the javelin to place her 4th overall in the Javelin. She has consistently thrown a top 60 NCAA distance, and today was no different as her first throw landed over 120 feet away, breaking Ashton's season-best throw by two feet and ranking 55th in the NCAA DIII. Both Naomi Wallace (Pipestone, Minn./Pipestone Area) and Lily Hubbard (Lindstrom, Minn./Chisago Lakes) took jumps for the Eagles in the High Jump event. After not participating in the high jump since January 25th, Hubbard cleared the bar twice in two jumps at 1.35 meters (4'05") before passing on the next height, easing her way back into jumping regularly. Wallace performed skillfully as she cleared 1.5 meters (4'11") to tie her personal best jump. She barely missed the next height and finished 10th overall. The long jump was the final field event for UNW. In the pit, Grace Moravchik (Mason, Wis./Ashland) improved by over a foot from her first attempt to her final jump of the day. She measured a leap of 5.01 meters (16'5"). She finished 17th before making her way to the track for the 400-meter hurdles. In the 400 hurdles, Moravchik cruised to a career-fastest time, a 32nd-place NCAA finish, and a 6th-place finish in the event. She turned in a time of 1:04.86, beating her season-best by four seconds and her career-best time by .02 seconds.

Four Northwestern runners took their mark in the 1,500-meter race. The event was stacked with six heats in total. Caroline Ringsmuth (Maple Grove, Minn./Maple Grove) was the first Eagle to stop the clock with a time of 5:28.75. Olivia Usselman (Stillwater, Minn./Math and Science Academy) recorded a personal best time of 5:45.37. Closely behind Usselman was Kimberlyn Case (Sleepy Eye, Minn./Litchfield), who turned in a 5:48.90 finish. Samary Acuna Arroliga also competed in the race with a time of 6:04.98. Alvine Njounang (Virginia, Minn./Grand Rapids) competed in the 400-meter dash, and in a photo finish, she and two other runners crossed the finish line within .14 seconds of each other. The official review showed that she placed 4th in her heat for an 18th-place overall finish. Njounang was clocked at 62.64 seconds, which was fast enough for a new career-best time. Her finish was over two seconds faster than her time last week. Deanna Ammermann (Spirit Lake, Iowa/Spirit Lake) highlighted the 100 and 200-meter dashes for Northwestern. She raced to a 16th-place finish with a time of 12.76 seconds, along with a 24th-place finish with a time of 26.82 seconds. Later in the meet, Alicia Arredondo (Robbinsdale, Minn./Homeschool) raced in the longest event for the Eagles. In the 5,000-meter race, she paced a 22:10.13 time to finish 21st overall. Last but certainly not least, three runners participated in the PR party in the 800. All three UNW runners notched a career or season-best time in the race. Leading off, Emery Maki (Hibbing, Minn./Hibbing) blazed to a 10th-place finish along with a top 100 NCAA time of 2:18.37. She cut .31 seconds off her previous best time. In the fourth heat, Meghan Corbett (Sartell, Minn./St. Cloud Cathedral) also recorded a career-fastest time, shaving off four seconds to clock a finish of 2:25.37. Faith Matvey (Meadowlands, Minn./Lakeview Christian Academy) grabbed a season-best finish of 2:47.58, cutting about 7.5 seconds off her previous time in the 800 this season.

With many personal records and impressive finishes, UNW will continue to prepare with their sights set on the UMAC Championships in May by racing on Thursday, at the St. Thomas Easter Invite.