SUPERIOR, Wis. - The University of Northwestern Women's Track and Field team traveled to Superior to compete in the UMAC Indoor Track and Field Championship. In the two-day event, Emery Maki (Hibbing, Minn./Hibbing) started the Eagles off with a bang, winning the opening event of the meet.

Maki has been a consistent performer for Northwestern all season, and she continued her dominance in the mile, winning the race with a season-best time of 5:21.08. Maki entered the event ranked third in the conference; however, she has won this event at this meet every time she has run it. Today was no different as she became a three-time UMAC Champion in the Mile. She later turned in another season-best performance in the 400-meter dash, cutting over a second from her previous mark to finish in 1:01.70 and earn a third-place podium finish.

Joining Maki in the 400 was Lidia Castro (Lakeville, Minn./Lakeville South). Castro also pushed herself to a season-best time, placing 10th in 1:05.03 after shaving a second off her previous mark.

All three Northwestern runners competing in the 60-meter prelims qualified for Saturday's final. Freshman Alaina Wojtowski (Oshkosh, Wis./Valley Christian) continued her impressive debut season by lowering her personal best yet again, clocking the second-fastest time of the meet. She won her heat in 8.04. Katie Shilts (Cameron, Wis./Cameron) and Emily Neumann (St. Agusta, Minn./Sauk Rapids) followed, placing fifth and eighth overall with times of 8.39 and 8.41, respectively. Neumann's 8.41 marked a new personal best by 0.1 seconds.

In the longest event of the day, Cheyanne Scalese (Lancaster, Minn./Lancaster Public), Caroline Stokes (Maple Grove, Minn./Maple Grove), and Alicia Arredondo (Robbinsdale, Minn./Homeschool) represented UNW in the 5,000 meters. Scalese edged out Stokes by just 0.12 seconds to place fourth, turning in a time of 19:53.76, while Stokes followed closely with a 19:53.88 finish for a personal best performance. Arredondo also scored for the Eagles, placing eighth in 20:50.43.

Lily Hubbard (Lindstrom, Minn./Chisago Lakes) and Shilts competed in the field events. Hubbard opened the day with a top-10 finish in the high jump, earning two points with her clearance of 1.40m (4' 7") to place seventh. Shilts later competed in the long jump, finishing ninth with a mark of 4.76m (15' 7.5").

Northwestern competed in two relays to close out the first day of competition, finishing third and second. The Eagles ran the 4,000-meter distance medley relay for the first time this season, with Samary Acuna (Inver Grove Heights, Minn./Simley), Jessica Redman (Beaver Dam, Wis./Beaver Dam), Kimberlyn Case (Sleepy Eye, Minn./Litchfield), and Natalie Van De Riet (Albertville, Minn./St. Michael-Albertville) placing third in 14:02.92. In the 4x200-meter relay, Wojtowski, Shilts, Neumann, and Castro secured a second-place finish with a time of 1:51.79, earning eight points.

After day one, the UNW women sit in fourth place with 42 points, just 7.5 points behind host University of Wisconsin–Superior in third. With eight events completed, the Eagles return Saturday for the final 11 events, beginning with the triple jump at 11:00 AM.